“there will be a domino effect on employment”

Placed in receivership on Friday November 22, the Paris 2024 equipment manufacturer sees its horizon darkening. In the hope of a possible recovery, the entire Aube textile industry is worried.

“Today happened what everyone had been dreading for some time“. The words of Denis Arnoult find a particular echo, five days after the placement in receivership of the brand “Le Coq Sportif” of which part of the production is located in Aube (10).

This entrepreneur is at the head of France Teinture, an SME with 95 employees based in Troyes and specializing in finishing and dyeing textiles before assembly. Without giving an exact figure, Denis Arnoult informs us that his company has “a significant share of production“for the official equipment supplier of Paris 2024.”This was a real advantage for the territory’s textile industry, because several companies were suppliers to Le Coq Sportif“.

Without being alarmist, the president of the Union des Industries Textiles de Champagne-Ardenne plays the card of caution. “The textile industry is listening to what will happen in the coming days, but for the moment, it is complicated to say more“, while hoping”a resumption of activity at Le Coq Sportif“, whose judicial recovery is accompanied by an observation period of six months, on the principle of continuity of operation.

Assailed by debt, the French brand also recorded a loss of 28.2 million euros last year. To try to get back afloat, it had obtained two loans during the year 2024: a first from the Paris 2024 organizing committee, to the tune of 2.9 million euros, and a second from the State French, amounting to 12.5 million euros.

We talk about LVHM, Hermès, but honestly, I don’t know much more

Guy Hérard, manager of Aube Tricotage

Behind the catastrophic financial situation of Coq Sportif, the prospects for Aube companies in the textile sector are not good. “There will be consequences on employment, on business leaders, and it will bring shame on us” he worries.

“There are textile subcontractors, such as Aube Tricotage or France Teinture, and those in logistics and transport.” explains Jean-Dominique Regazzoni, manager of the company Emo SAS, a family hosiery and Aube president of the Confederation of Small and Medium Enterprises. As an entrepreneur, since 2010 he has also rented buildings to Aube Tricotage, a subcontractor company. du Coq Sportif based in Sainte-Savine (10).Since January, I have unpaid rent” he says. The cause is cash flow problems. “Le Coq Sportif owes them a lot of money“.

We contacted the manager of Aube Tricotage, who confirmed these cash flow problems which will worsen in the months to come. Guy Hérard regrets “the lack of communication from Le Coq Sportif“, even if he is aware that “two administrators have been appointed and news will be given by the end of the week“.

Possible buyers could come forward. “We talk about LVHM, Hermès, but honestly, I don’t know much more” he says.

The future of Aube Tricotage could be closely linked to the fate of Le Coq Sportif, because the manufacturer who employs 18 people has worked with the sportswear brand since 2014, with a production share of 85%.

“We hope for a possible resumption of Le Coq, to ​​save jobs” wishes Guy Hérard, without throwing stones at the equipment manufacturer. “There was a management problem, and marketing errors, that’s a fact. But the return of Le Coq Sportif to Aube in 2017 (and the relocation of its head office, Editor’s note) allowed manufacturers to have activity“As a reminder, if the main production factories are located abroad, and in particular in Morocco, dyeing and knitting were until then done in Aube. “We thought that the Rooster was going to save the sectorr” adds Jean-Dominique Ragazzoni.

If the bankruptcy of Coq Sportif is a massive blow, the textile economy has been suffering for much longer. “The brand is at a standstill, in the middle of a catastrophic general situation” worries Denis Arnoult, the co-manager of France Teinture.

“The profession is disappearing” notes Guy Hérard. “There are fewer and fewer clients“.

The manager of Aube Tricotage states this very clearly: if Le Coq Sportif were to disappear, “there will be a domino effect, and the entire textile sector in Troyes will be dead“.