Thierry Guibert (Conforama) : "A lui seul, le dimanche assure 23% de notre chiffre d'affaires"

I have had no contact with the government, but the threat is real. I think we need to take the report for what it is, and deep down I believe it is a good report because it has the merit of clarifying things that were indeed unclear, especially with these exemptions. Nevertheless, we did have this exemption that allowed us to open on Sundays. But what I criticize about this report are two things. First, as business leaders we need a stable legislative framework over time; we cannot set up an exemption and then remove it because our investments, our investment policy is based on that legislative framework. Second, the complexity of this report: we talk about new zones that will be implemented, we talk about July 2015, we talk about removing this exemption by then, but in the meantime leaving it and then including DIY stores. I would have preferred a broader exemption because I believe there are sectoral zones – furniture, DIY, gardening – and territorial zones like Île-de-France where nobody disputes today that they should be able to open on Sundays.

For you, the major issue is why I said we need a stable framework. Because when you open – we opened a store at Étoile a year ago in Paris – when you invest in that type of store, you invest with a return model based on 7 days a week. If tomorrow they take away 26 Sundays, 20 Sundays, 15 Sundays a year, the economic model of your store completely changes. So I believe the report does not fundamentally question it; it says there are a number of things, a law notably in 2014, and then zones that will be created by prefectural authority. So we will see how it all comes together, but in any case we will defend our exemption very vigorously and the ability to replace this exemption with the same type of opening we have today.

It is not doing very well. In 2013, the market will decline by about 3 to 4%. Over the last 18 months, we have seen a decline of around 4 to 5%. The market has lost about 600 million euros over the last 18 months.

Yes, clearly. There is a consumer trade-off that is obvious and logical. In a general stability of purchasing power, consumers arbitrate towards essential expenses. That is the first element. The second element is probably a general dynamic around the furniture market that is insufficient and does not allow favorable trade-offs versus, for example, DIY or other sectors.

To maintain these dynamics, we need strong players. That's why we are very happy to have a very strong Ikea in France, just as we are very happy now with our alliance with Mobilier Européen to become even bigger and more important. We can come back to that right away.

So first of all, what is happening is: it's a 20% stake, there is an acquisition of 12 stores from the network that will become Conforama stores, the acquisition of Fly, and then the contractual understanding that Conforama has an option to increase its stake in Fly in the coming years. When we say Fly, it's only the former Fly stores. The Rap family will continue to operate the Atlas and Crozatier brands on their side. What is also important is that this partnership allows us upstream to have purchasing power, now about 21% market share in France. The crisis obviously plays a role because it forces us to consolidate the market to be larger and more resilient against global competitors.

Absolutely. Is it the crisis that made you change your mind? I still believe that the goal is not to enter an unprofitable market share race. That is, the goal is not to constantly lower prices to take market share from our main competitor. Here we have an alliance that makes a lot of sense, both in terms of brand positioning – Fly and Conforama are positioned differently, Fly younger, higher-end, Conforama discount home equipment – and in terms of size, upstream of our logistics and purchasing capabilities to offer our consumers the best prices. So we are not in a market share race, and I assume and say I do not wish to enter that race. But we are in an alliance that will allow us to progress in growth and profitability on purchases and logistics, because you have to go further and further to source furniture, and the bigger you are, the easier it is to absorb those costs. That is the meaning of this alliance. It is not necessarily about sourcing furniture further away, but also being able to guarantee Conforama's sources. We still source 60% from French industry, and we have partnerships that work very well. It is also a capacity for us to deliver volume for that industry, and in the medium term to guarantee them the efficiency of their industrial production and to encourage them to invest. The fate of furniture in France is mainly about innovation. All industrial furniture brands in France that have invested and innovated are in good health today; those that have not are in difficulty. There is also the Asian and Eastern European side, mainly on small furniture and decoration, but on large furniture we are largely domestic.

Yes, it is still on the agenda. We are working on it because we think that at some point the value should be externalized, when we come to Europe to offer a group that has exceeded 10 billion euros in revenue. So we are working on it. But we need market conditions. So I would say that within 12 to 18 months it should be done.