The furniture store chain Casa France is preparing to close its doors

Judicial liquidation appears inevitable in the absence of serious takeover offers, the company, which employs nearly 700 people in France, announced on Wednesday.

The Bobigny Commercial Court will deliver its decision on Friday, June 27, but the die seems cast. The furniture store chain Casa France is heading towards compulsory liquidation , it announced on Wednesday, June 11. According to Casa France's management itself, given the criteria required by law, the takeover bids should be deemed inadmissible. This is more than a disappointment for the 577 people on permanent contracts and around 100 on fixed-term contracts in the brand's 143 stores across France, it is a real source of anxiety. Casa France had requested its placement in receivership in November 2024. At the time, everyone said they were confident in the possibility of finding a buyer, but to no avail.

Casa France's management attributes its situation to the bankruptcy of the brand's Belgian branch. This is an important branch, responsible for logistics and IT for the entire international group, and central functions. When the supply chain derails, the entire business is paralyzed. Casa is currently present in eight European countries with a network of 500 stores. Around 10% have already been closed or sold as part of a cost-cutting plan, and the damage could spread, similar to what is currently unfolding in France.

The lack of a buyer deemed "serious" by the Bobigny Commercial Court does not, in itself, explain the highly probable liquidation of Casa France. There is also the collapse of the real estate market as a whole. Furniture gives rise to decoration and home furnishings, the brand's two other core businesses. And it's a sector that also faces stiff competition. Competition from the Swedish giant Ikea, and from online retail, as the French largely purchase this type of item online. Another brand, Maisons du Monde, is also facing major difficulties.

In 2023, the same Bobigny commercial court ordered the liquidation of Habitat, the other iconic home improvement brand. Habitat was a little luckier, having been relaunched just a year ago by the site vente-unique.com, a pure player that buys wholesale and resells without intermediaries online. It's uncertain whether Casa France will suffer the same fate.