Pont-Audemer. This business must close its doors: “There are not enough customers”

Total liquidation. Everything must disappear. Opened in October 2021 on Rue de la République, the men’s ready-to-wear boutique Terre d’Hugo will have only lasted barely three years in Pont-Audemer (Eure). Its closure is scheduled August 15, 2024. Its leader, Virginie Gobert also has two other Terre d’Hugo stores in Neubourg and Évreux.

If the latter two are doing well financially, that of Pont-Audemer has never met the hoped-for success. “We have been on the same numbers for three years. Except for the first three months after opening which were exceptional, there was a dizzying descent,” declares Virginie Gobert.

There are not enough customers to sustain the business.

In Neubourg, the store has around 4,000 customers. “In Pont-Audemer, for three years, there have been between 700 and 800,” says Virginie Gobert.

Created in 2015, the Terre d’Hugo brand is aimed at “mature” men, customers mainly aged 50 to 75. The style is colorful and comfortable. “We dress men from cap to sock”, she summarizes. The brand also specializes in large sizes (4 XL and 64 for pants).

The manager does not explain the reasons for this failure

By opening a boutique in Pont-Audemer in 2021, Virginie Gobert was optimistic, because men’s ready-to-wear is not very represented in the city center, “except for the Solo boutique which is more expensive than at home”, specifies the manager. Terre d’Hugo is more in the mid-range with prices starting at €49 for a top, and €79 for pants.

Virginie Gobert admits not understanding the reasons for this failure in Pont-Audemer, while in Neubourg, her shop is doing well. The purchasing power in the Risloise region is it lower? Difficult to say with certainty. Internet competition Did it harm the business? Virginie Gobert assures us that no: “I am not impacted. My customers who are between 50 and 75 years old do not buy their clothes on the Internet. »

She adds that the brand is very active on social networks to highlight its clothes. Disappointed to be forced to close her store in Pont-Audemer so soon, Virginie Gobert nevertheless hopes that her customers will come to dress at Neubourg.

Follow all the news from your favorite cities and media by subscribing to Mon -.