Iconic fashion brand Pimkie, founded in 1971 in the French city of Lille, has decided to close all physical stores in Spain. This decision was announced by the company Pangea Retail, the brand’s franchise partner for the entire Spanish market.
The decision follows Pimkie’s change in ownership almost a year ago. A profound shareholder restructuring process began at the end of October 2022 with the announcement by the management of Pimkie, which was then still owned by a company linked to the Mulliez family, that it was negotiating the sale of the company to a consortium made up of the groups Lee Cooper France, Kindy and Ibisler Tekstil.
An agreement was eventually reached and the sale of the French chain to the new consortium took effect in March 2023. The chain’s new owners wanted to consolidate the company’s foundations and strengthen its position in the market. Sandrine Lilienfeld was named as Pimkie’s new CEO and was expected to lead the restructuring process and handover to Pimkinvest. Sandrine Lilienfeld resigned just six months after being appointed managing director.
Six months after Lilienfeld’s departure, Pimkie appointed Élodie Chelle as the new managing director. However, she does not work in this position alone, but under the title of “Deputy” and under the leadership of Salih Halassi, Chairman of Pimkinvest, who held the position of Managing Director during Pimkie’s expansion.
The closure of Pimkie in Spain
As for the development of the chain in the Spanish market, it has been continued by Pimkie’s Spanish subsidiary, Dimodes, which since November 2021 belongs to the German group Young Fashion Group, Pimkie’s master franchise partner for the German, Spanish, Portuguese and Austrian market, which passed into the hands of the Belgian group Bluegray in November 2022. Pangea Retail, the company responsible for managing the brand’s stores in the country, is responsible for Pimkie’s official withdrawal from Spain. This was announced in the Official Gazette of the Companies Register (BORME) on October 18, after Dimodes was liquidated.
The departure of Dimodes also means the final end of the Pimkie fashion chain in Spain, which had been present on the country’s market since 1991. The fashion brand had a distribution network of 26 stores. At the beginning of September last year, a lot to manage 10 Pimkie stores was sold at public auction for 80,000 euros plus a purchase obligation of 50,000 euros for new seasonal goods. This transaction was part of the liquidation process for Dimodes’ assets, for which no successful bidder was ultimately found. The liquidation of Pimkie’s Spanish subsidiary was announced on October 18th and published in the Official Journal on October 26th. This brings to an end a more than eventful history of the chain in Spain – a country in which, while the management agreed to liquidate its subsidiaries in Belgium (2021) or in Switzerland (2022), Pimkie expanded its presence and its commercial role through staff cuts and has steadily reduced planned store closures. Pimkie will now be present in a number of European countries with around 400 stores, including 302 in France.
This translated and edited post previously appeared on FashionUnited.ES