Caddy, manufacturer of supermarket trolleys, has seven weeks to find a buyer

The future of the 142 employees of the manufacturer of supermarket trolleys “Made in France”, prey to continuous difficulties, is more than Incertain.

by

In cessation of payment since December 31, 2021, the workshops gathered Caddy, manufacturers of the trolleys of the same name, were placed, Tuesday, January 4, in judicial recovery for the third time in less than ten years. The current direction has until February 22 to find a buyer. “Currently, I do not have a track, but the procedure starts just,” acknowledged, at the exit of the hearing, Stéphane Dedieu, the officer of the company calling for his wishes a “industrial” buyer for this market of niche and praised “a beautiful brand, beautiful products and collaborators involved”.

In the past fifteen years, from 750 to 142 employees, the Alsatian company almost centenary is now only the shadow of itself, with a turnover divided by ten into one little more than a decade (110 million euros in 2009, 12 million in 2021). On its historical locations, especially in Schiltigheim, in the suburbs of Strasbourg, today push residential buildings. Sign of times, his former boss (until the transfer of the company to the Altia group, in 2012) and adoptive daughter of the founder, Alice Deppen-Joseph, that employees have always called “Miss”, died on December 4th 2021.

In 2014, the recovery of society by its general manager, Stéphane Dedey, however, sounded as a new promising start. Two years later, Caddie also resumed the site and some of the employees of another metal surface treatment company located northwest of Strasbourg and the victim of a fire, to install its assembly activities , finish and shipping. In the spring of 2021, the manufacturer finally focused all of its production, licencing, at the passage, 41 people.

Descent to hell

In the meantime, cumulative losses: € 2.6 million in 2017, 5 million in 2018, 6.2 million in 2019, 5 million in 2020 … a descent into hell that neither the participation taking In the majority, in 2018, from Polish Damix, specialist in store layout, nor the reorganization of the company did not stop. In September 2021, the main shareholder, himself weakened by the consequences of the health crisis, thus indicated to the management no longer wanting to financially support his subsidiary.

You have 46.39% of this article to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.

/Media reports.