The Crazy Epic of the Willot Brothers - From the Société Du Crêpe Willot to LVMH

“It thus clearly appears that the Willot group benefits from extraordinarily favorable conditions in this operation. Not only does it not have to spend a cent in taking over Boussac, but on the contrary, it improves its cash flow through the recovery of receivables and liquidity and by selling Boussac's stock. A new working capital is established thanks to the supplier credit that the group can negotiate again. The sales of assets already made will allow for the repayment of the first installments.”

“> "History, by repeating the causes of greatness and decline of everything on earth, could warn man of the moment when he should halt the play of all his faculties; but neither the conquerors, nor the actors, nor the women, nor the authors heed its salutary call [...]. May this history be the poem of bourgeois vicissitudes to which no voice has thought, as they seem devoid of greatness, while they are equally immense [...]." Honoré de Balzac, History of the Greatness and Decline of César Birotteau”

“Any resemblance to characters who have existed is not coincidental. These characters all really existed. This story is the history of the most significant financial and industrial disaster of the post-war era. The anecdotal style and the "comic book" aspect of the story should not make us forget the devastating waves of factory closures and layoffs, nor the company personnel who were the victims plunged into anxiety and insecurity. The necessary transformation of the textile industry could not occur without suffering. It has allowed the birth of other destinies, carriers of creativity and values that the world envies us for.”

“> "The board of directors is one of the most distinguished ways of wasting time." August Detœuf speaking of O. L. Barenton, confectioner”

“It is also the first time that a group has committed to presenting an economic balance sheet, that is, by proceeding with a revaluation of its real estate assets to give an updated value to its consolidated assets. When questioned by a journalist, Jean-Pierre Willot clarified: "I attach more importance to the economic balance sheet than to the accounting balance sheet in which assets are valued in 1950 francs as if they were in today's francs.”

“He has behind him a brilliant career. He was notably president of Sud Aviation and, in this capacity, nicknamed the father of the Caravelle.”

“"A sin confessed is half forgiven..." Popular saying”

“Antoine is more convinced than ever that happiness lies in industry, investment, and innovation. But the industry is a mistress that comes at a high cost. Textiles and apparel, increasingly competitive, continue their descent into hell.”

“Thus, in 1975, the group took over Cyclone Establishments, specialized in the manufacture of sportswear and raincoats. These establishments employ 970 workers located in four factories in Fougères, Avranches, Louvigné-du-Désert, and Dol-de-Bretagne. This operation also included the acquisition, for a symbolic franc, of Couturier Establishments in Fécamp, also specialized in ready-to-wear clothing.”

“Among the proposed files is Conforama. It represents a great opportunity to move away from clothing and textiles, and to expand into the distribution of goods for home equipment. This chain of stores, driven by a purchasing center, Conforama France, was founded in 1967. It aims to be the leading distributor of home comfort, including appliances.”

“Its concept is innovative compared to the spirit and organization of the traditional furniture store. The sales areas, averaging 2,000 square meters, offer a significant choice for customers. A strong storage capacity allows the establishment of the principle of takeaway sales, whereas previously one had to order furniture without being able to have it immediately. The chain, through its purchasing power, has considerable negotiation capacity.”

“serrée qui a lieu à leur siège de Chilly-Mazarin, les frères Willot emportent le morceau au nez et à la barbe de la Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas qui pensait enlever la mise grâce à son aura et à ses moyen”

“The formula succeeds beyond all expectations. In four years, the company has repaid its concordat, absorbed about ten affiliates, and opened new stores (including the one at Pont-Neuf, in the Belle Jardinière building). The company becomes profitable again, distributes a dividend after having rebuilt its equity.”

“In 1977, the opportunity arises to acquire Galeries Anspach, a poorly controlled chain of stores whose activity is chronically unprofitable. Between 1971 and 1976, the world's leading distributor, the American group Sears Roebuck of Chicago, failed to improve its profitability.”

“This acquisition was concluded for the sum of 840 million Belgian francs from Jean-Pierre de Bodt and the Belgian state, who are, in a way, interim shareholders. Half is paid in SFFAW securities held by the parent company SFFAW and by a Belgian subsidiary, the Peigné de Malines, a former wool spinning mill of the group turned into a holding company. The other part is settled by a two-year bank loan.”

“Korvettes is losing a lot of money. The American banks that have supported it so far do not trust the new management. Jean-Pierre Willot, who is leading the operation, has delegated Alain Mathieu to rectify the situation. He is on the ground at the beginning of 1979 and begins a painstaking slimming down process. This is accomplished in record time. Loss-making stores are closed or disposed of, and the workforce is reduced from 12,000 to 3,000 people.”

“Moreover, in his usual manner, Jean-Pierre Willot engages in a tough negotiation with Korvette's suppliers to obtain payment terms. In vain, they refuse to deliver unless they are paid in cash. Due to the drastic reduction in its sales areas, Korvette's no longer has the purchasing power it once had.”

“Chapter 8 "...to throw a rope to the founder of a business to keep him out of the water until his suffocated company can be retrieved, indeed all these battles of shields won constitute the high politics of money. Certainly, for the banker, as for the conqueror, there are risks; but there are so few people in a position to wage such battles that the sheep have nothing to do with it."”

“Between 1930 and 1939, he also buys, for a symbolic price, about fifteen textile factories "for scrap," foreshadowing the method used by the Willot brothers thirty years later... He completes his vertical integration by acquiring the Tremblot-Matheron and Rousseau Establishments, which operate about twenty clothing workshops, as well as the Wesserling Printing Manufacture.”

“Marcel Boussac is a perfectionist. To produce quality, his factories must be equipped with the best materials to be among the most productive.”

“A great specialist in industrial organization, Henri Fayol will be his general manager and mentor, the only one of his collaborators he would sometimes listen to.”

“What was done... Without this animal episode, the Louis Vuitton Foundation would probably never have seen the light of day at the Jardin d'Acclimatation because Bernard Arnault would inherit this concession when he took over the Boussac Saint Frères group.”

“Staff join Boussac as if entering a religion. At that time, one was born, lived, and died for textiles. The group's employees are "bagged." They are taken care of from the cradle to the grave.”

“Immediately after the war, in 1947, he created his own fashion house with Christian Dior. From the moment of his first collection, presented in February 1947, his "flower women" who embody the New Look, toured the world. Under the management of his manager, Jacques Rouet, Dior becomes an essential star of French luxury. Manufacturing licenses for all kinds of fashion accessories are sold worldwide.”

“The success is staggering. He acquires two daily newspapers: L’Aurore and Paris-Turf.”

“His racing stable wins the most coveted grand prizes. His stud farms are the largest in the world. The sale of his yearlings and broodmares brings him a great deal of money.”

“In the 1950s, the Boussac group is at its peak, generating 750 million francs in revenue and employing more than 25,000 people in 65 factories.”

“This well-deserved fame undoubtedly made him insensitive to the rapid changes in the economic world and the future of his own group. In 1950, only 3% of the French consumption of cotton goods were imported, by 1968, this would be 35%. Unresponsive to these changes, Marcel Boussac, clings to cotton. In 1966, he still buys two moribund companies in the Vosges which had previously eluded him, Laederich and Géliot. Their takeover is a complete fiasco.”

“Retrenched in his ivory tower, unwilling to delegate a single shred of his power, Marcel Boussac gradually loses his best collaborators and contact with the reality of the world around him. With the liberalization of international trade, the loss of captive markets linked to the decolonization process, vertical integration, which was once a strength, becomes a handicap. Vertical integration implies intermediate inventories at each stage of production.”

“The "Boussac quality" certainly has a price, but that price is no longer in the market. The rise of fashion also hastens the fall. Boussac's "indestructible" products are made to last. Rapid changes in fashion outdated them and make them unsellable, further inflating the stock. The group does not have the flexibility needed to adapt to the new pace of collections. Operating losses accumulate. Cash flow is drained. Banks are reluctant to finance overdrafts and investments despite the personal guarantees that the patriarch commits to give.”

“Marcel Boussac is forced to gradually sell almost all of the capital of Parfums Christian Dior to the Moët-Hennessy group.”

“The Boussac group declines very rapidly. Marcel Boussac covers the month-end expenses from his personal funds. Bank loans are renewed thanks to the guarantees he provides on his exceptional properties.”

“On May 24, 1978, Marcel Boussac writes a letter to the banks and public authorities, to indicate that he is ready to make new sacrifices on his personal assets and to establish a new management team that would have the confidence of the shareholders. As a last resort, he had brought in a "providential man," Jacques Petit, former manager of Prisunic and then of Manufrance, who could only assess the damage.”

“The carving up will begin very quickly. To have current cash flow and satisfy the most privileged creditors, the judicial administrator finalizes the sale of L'Aurore and Paris-Turf, as well as the building on Rue de Richelieu, headquarters of the press group. The Fresnay-le-Buffard stud farm and the racing stable in the colors of Marcel Boussac, with his champion, Acamas, are sold to Aga Khan.”

“In this month of August 1978, the brothers and their collaborators work tirelessly on the elements of the Boussac file that the judicial representatives have kindly given them. Antoine Willot visits all the factories at lightning speed. The accounts of the various companies are audited by the firm Jacques Vigne. The group's real estate assets are identified and valued. All this work leaves little time for summer vacations... A takeover offer is made by the brothers through letters dated 3, 9, and 17 August.”

“La stratégie générale des dirigeants s’apparente à ce que l’on appelle parfois la fuite en avant, qui consiste à résoudre les problèmes par des coups.”

“- preserve and increase the prestige of Christian Dior, ensure a coherence of its development policy with that of Parfums Christian Dior, and bring together within a single company the legal entities that compose it, the French and foreign business funds, trademark registrations, and the buildings on avenue Montaigne.”

“At the same time as taking over and integrating the Boussac group, the Willot brothers tackle other, equally complex projects: successfully restructuring the Galeries Anspach and Korvettes and splitting the distribution activities from the industrial ones, in order to prepare a hosting structure that will accommodate all industrial activities.”

“Antoine Willot continues to develop his business of selling textile factories "with products in hand", that is to say including staff training and the ramping up to full operational capacity of the units sold. Three important agreements will be concluded with the Algerian government for the creation of three integrated textile complexes in M'Sila, Akbou, and Arris. These operations will be very profitable thanks to the expertise of Antoine Willot and the engineers of the group and thanks to the purchasing power he has with major textile equipment manufacturers: SACM, Sulzer, Picanol, Schlafhorst, Rieter, etc. These investments also make it possible to improve the purchasing conditions of these materials for the group's factories.”

“In his book, Investigation on the Boussac Affair, Patrick Lamm estimates the cash obtained thanks to the "generosity" of the commercial court at 600 million francs.”