Associated trade grew by 1% last year, to €143.5 billion. Confident in its anti-crisis model, the Fédération du Commerce Associé continues to fire on all cylinders against the Macron Law aimed at limiting the duration of affiliation contracts.
Good news first. Despite "a nonetheless unfavorable economic context", cooperative and associated commerce saw its sales increase by 1% in 2014, reaching €143.5 billion, higher growth than that of retail, limited to 0.4%.
With 153 banners from 30 business sectors and 43,870 points of sale, associated commerce created 18,000 net jobs last year (3.5% more employees than in 2013), 1,200 stores and welcomed 640 new entrepreneurs. " Associate retailing, a source of jobs and a crisis buffer, is continuing to grow and is in it for the long term," emphasizes Eric Plat, President of the Fédération du commerce associé (FCA ) and CEO of Atol opticians. Atol.
30% of France's retail trade
Food (Intermarché, Leclerc, Système U...), automotive (Roady, Point S...), household equipment (Bricomarché, Gedimat...), sports (Intersport, Sport 2000...), real estate (Orpi), optics (Atol, Krys...), hotels and restaurants (Best Western, Poivre Rouge...) and others: cooperative retailing, with its very specific model, today captures 30% of the retail market in France. The FCA emphasizes the resilience of cooperative organization, pointing out that the five-year survival rate of companies in the sector (85.5%) is twice the average.
The Macron Law, a "sword of Damocles
Despite encouraging performances "which benefit everyone - entrepreneurs, employees and consumers -" cooperative and associated trade "risks being undermined by a provision of the Macron Law aimed at limiting the duration of affiliation contracts between entrepreneurs and their network to nine years", deplores the FCA, which had already fired a red-hot shot against the measure earlier this year.
For Eric Plat (opposite), President of the FCA, this amendment, "which only targets retailer networks and spares capital-intensive structures (integrated retail groups)", is bound to create "unfair competition with deleterious effects" for cooperative and associated retail groups, whose economic model would be "entirely called into question".
In an open letter addressed to French Minister of the Economy Emmanuel Macron, Eric Plat drives the point home, railing against the interference of a measure that would curb the long-term investment capabilities of cooperatives. "In all our sectors, our entrepreneurs have to develop tools and logistical resources involving colossal investments, requiring long-term visibility. This visibility is also demanded by our financial partners, who are increasingly fussy about commitments and guarantees. What will we say to our bankers tomorrow, when we want to invest? "Hello, I need to borrow, but part of our current affiliation contracts end in 3 years?!"
At parliamentary level, all this - as well as other features of the Macron Law such as exceptional working Sundays, wage compensation mechanisms and the maintenance of tourist zones - will now be discussed on June 3 at a joint committee meeting.
Source: Mathieu Bahuet - Franchise magazine - http://www.franchise-magazine.com/actualite/breves/le-commerce-associe-entre-satisfaction-et-inquietude-loi-macron-9119.html
