How this small family business from Gironde resists the giants of its sector

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“We will have to pick up behind him, which will not necessarily be easy.” Étienne Normand is aware of the scale of the task that awaits him with his brother Marc near La Réole, in Gironde. In a few years, the two brothers will take over the family business Freetimean import-export company for camping and hiking equipment.

Freetime, the baby of the Normand family

Bought by Gérard Normand, the father, in 1998 from the Dutch group Hagemeyer, Freetime is today co-managed by Gérard and Marc. Étienne is the French representative of the group.

After a good period before the 2000s, it is now in the face of increased competition. Giants of the sector, Decathlon or even Intersport leave little room for the small family business.

“We sold in famous brands like Décathlon or Au Vieux Campeur. But, little by little, these brands created their own brand,” notes Étienne. “You see, we have our problems too. We survive as best we can. »

An emphasis on ecology

To keep Freetime going, the brothers decided to focus on environmentally friendly products. “We first stopped products with PFC (perfluorocarbons), which we did on all our sleeping bags or backpacks. It’s going on about the aunts.”

Changes that take time; it's in progress on the tents. A break from the father's methods, “He was more in the right quality-price ratio.” From now on, the trio is trying to combine ecology with prices accessible to all.

A desire to return to the French market

By necessity, Freetime has also turned to markets other than France. Today, backpacks from the local company are sold in Romania, England and Taiwan, under the name of other brands.

This international momentum is not enough to erase Étienne's regret at not having broken into the French market. » Returning to the French market is what interests us. But today, the market is saturated “, notes Étienne Normand. “The emergence of the second-hand market, linked to the decline in the purchasing power of the French, has a strong impact on us,” adds the man who spent a large part of his childhood in the Freetime premises.

The call is in any case launched to local businesses, “We want to succeed in approaching customers in the region”. Without much confidence that it will be followed. “Which means we will all be dressed the same if we continue like this,” he complains. However, the survival of this La Réole institution and its five employees is at stake…

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