The hypermarket Casino from the Odysseum gallery in Montpellier risks closing its doors. It is the only store that has not found a buyer in Hérault, and the 85 employees could find themselves unemployed overnight by July 2024.
In the meantime, the Odysseum Casino is selling off its items. The shelves are becoming visibly empty, and employees are in complete limbo. Minus 50, minus 70% and the word “destocking” is written in huge letters on several panels. The Odysseum Casino sells off its items, and yet: “we don’t have an activity like when you go to Carrefour where you work all day, here, we have gaps, explains Shana (that’s an assumed first name) who has been a cashier here for five years. Over time, she saw customers leave. It could be lows of One hour, two hours or three hours. When you wait for customers all day, it’s complicated to work in these conditions.”
Léonie Cornet
By July, the store could close, but employees have very little information. “We’ve been in the dark for over a year already, Shana continues. We knew that the Casino stores were going badly, but we didn’t know any more. We started to find out before the holidays, except that in the end, we still don’t know anything. We just know that on July 2, there will no longer be a Casino, but regarding the stores that are not taken over, we don’t know any more.”
More than 25 Casino stores without buyers
In France, around 25 Casino stores have still not found buyers. Shana is already considering a career change. “I, who loved contact with people, can’t take it anymore. I think I’m going to return to my first job, which was an administrative agent.”
When contacted, management did not respond to our requests. A meeting is planned soon so that employees can decide on their fate. Hervé Louboutin, CGT delegate in charge of commerce in Hérault, is in regular contact with the employees of this store. He describes a particularly difficult situation to live with: “the employees are in great suffering, because they have no idea what will happen on July 1, whether we lower the curtain or not. I felt very uneasy on their part. I met a cashier who has worked in this store for several years, and she doesn’t even know if she will be able to go on vacation in July. Several employees are on sick leave, others have left. The specificity of this store, which does not generate turnover, is that they have recruited a huge number of students. Out of 85 employees, there are many part-timers, particularly students and single mothers.”
Is the rent too expensive?
One of the reasons given by the unions which could explain the difficulty of finding a buyer is the cost of rent, which is higher than elsewhere, because the store is in the middle of a busy shopping area. “According to the information we have today, it is the price of the land which is excessive in relation to the profitability of the store’s turnover, explains Hervé Louboutin. We don’t have details on the price of the rent, but it is very expensive. This store was the Casino showcase at the time when it was built, we wanted to make it the group’s liner, but this store is not at all profitable, since attendance is linked only to attendance at the shopping center, with an average basket which is very low compared to the number of customers.”
Elsewhere in Montpellier, the Celleneuve district Casino will become an Auchan by June, that of Near Arènes an Intermarché. In Béziers, the Casino located on Route de Pézenas officially becomes an Auchan this Thursday, May 2, 2024 in the morning. For stores that have found a buyer, a national meeting is planned for this Thursday between employees and the Auchan and Intermarché groups.
