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Fauchon

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Fauchon is a French gourmet food company that was founded in 1886 by Auguste Fauchon. The company is based in Paris, France and operates retail outlets. Fauchon currently produces tea, chocolate, biscuits and sweets among other products.

History

Originally a street vendor, then a wine merchant, Auguste Fauchon created the company that bears his name in 1886. He developed the Fauchon store in Paris, France, on Place de la Madeleine in the 8th arrondissement. Given the high quality of his produce and packaged goods made by its suppliers, the Fauchon Company quickly became very famous internationally. “Fauchon imposes itself as the top luxury gourmet store in France; you may find there the most unusual and refined products”, said the well-known writer Jean-Michel Salvator.[1] In 1898, Fauchon opened the first Salon de Thé in Paris. Of all the gourmet foods the store sells, tea remains the most celebrated. In 1905, Auguste Fauchon began selling his wares by catalogue, making them available to epicures all over Europe. The company continued to innovate throughout the 20th century, creating the first flavored teas in the 1960s and the first flower-petal teas in the 1970s.[2]

“For more than a century, Fauchon served the regal, the rich, and the famous. The Paris-based purveyor of luxury goods sold tea to royalty, pastry to politicians, and caviar to movie stars. When the Duke and Duchess of Windsor decamped in Paris, they made regular forays to Fauchon’s main Place de la Madeleine emporium. When French radicals in 1968 wanted to strike at a symbol of decadence, they stormed Fauchon and distributed foie gras to the poor,” writes Matt Miller in the Daily Deal.[3]

The founder’s son, Robert Fauchon, and his son-in-law, both took over the business and the third generation after them sold the company in 1952 to Joseph Pilosoff, the former owner of the famous French chocolate company, Chocolat Poulain, of the silverware maker, “Aux Ciseaux d’Argent” in Saint Cloud, France, and of the well-known European shirt retailer, “Aux 100.000 Chemises” in Belgium. Joseph Pilosoff managed Fauchon quite well and started a partnership with the French airline company Air France. He also developed Fauchon internationally with the opening of Fauchon stores in several countries, most significantly in Japan in 1972 inside the Takashimaya department stores. After Joseph Pilosoff passed away in 1981, his daughter took the helm of Fauchon. She died in a fire that occurred in 1985 at the company’s flagship store. Her daughter, Martine, only 33 years old, found herself the owner of Fauchon with her husband, Philippe Prémat. Until then, she had been managing a gym club in Marseille, France. (See the interview of Martine Prémat in the newspaper Le Figaro)[4] and her biography.[5])

The takeover by Martine Prémat turned out to be extremely difficult. “The environment is not too favorable, products are becoming banal, management errors abound, the Fauchon brand is losing its appeal and money” said the magazine Capital in May 1997 in a thorough review on Fauchon, its management, and its results.[6] The rumor in Paris at the time was that Fauchon was nearly bankrupt. The writer from Capital, Eddy Murano, explained: “a look on the balance sheet is sufficient to be preoccupied: Sales are stagnant for the past ten years at about 250 million French Francs ($57 million); Losses every year, at the lowest point are about 5 million, in 1991 and 1993, and up to 11.9 million in 1996, debt is 73 millions French Francs ($17 million) and net worth is a negative 4.9 million”[7] The main concern at the time was the major brand dilution that occurred when Fauchon started to be distributed in mass-market retailers like, for example Carrefour, Auchan, Champion, and Casino in Europe and started selling the same Fauchon products much cheaper in those store than at the Place de la Madeleine flagship Fauchon store. A supplier recalls: “You can find the same product elsewhere at a better price. I found out for myself with one of my own products sold 70% cheaper than at Fauchon at one of my other clients. The Fauchon brand has lost its value.”[8]

The Prémats manage Fauchon mostly from its yacht and a branch they opened on the French Caribbean island of Saint Martin. They built a large 100-foot (30 m) cruise ship called “Le Fauchon”[9] The Prémats also attempted in the 1990s to continue the international development of their predecessors by opening Fauchon stores in Geneva and in Saudi Arabia. They ended up very quickly closing them a few years later. They also make Fauchon sponsor the car race Paris Dakar Rally. Losses run high, the company loses its cachet. As the writer Jean-Michel Salvator explained: “The family is fighting; the company no longer knows where it is going. But more importantly, Fauchon has become the victim of its own errors. Strategic error when the company started selling its products at mass-market retailers, at Carrefour and Auchan. Management error when it launched its cruise ship to promote French gastronomy.[10] “The yacht ‘Le Fauchon’ was acquired for 30 million French Francs ($7 million) in 1994 to organize gastronomy cruises in the Mediterranean Sea to promote the brand. At 350,000 French Francs ($80,000) per week for a group of 10 people, the operation quickly turned in to a sinking disaster, for lack of customers. In 1995, the ship was sold at a loss of 12 millions French Francs ($3 million)” writes Eddy Murano in Capital.[11]

In February 1998, the Gault Millau magazine, the most influential publication for restaurant rating in France, publishes an extensive review of Fauchon that is extremely critical. It says: “The French ambassador of French gastronomy has a cracked veneer. Is Fauchon still Fauchon? To judge, we tested many of its products. In the gastronomy department we were appalled by the poor taste of the boudin blanc, flourlike and tasteless, likewise by the boudin noir and Tarama as bad, etc.”[12]

Fauchon had lost its image of luxury and refinement; the company was in a precarious situation after ten years of losses when the young investment banker, Laurent Adamowicz, purchased it from Martine Prémat in 1998. Le Figaro newspaper summarizes: “When Laurent Adamowicz buys Fauchon in 1998, the company has an image of being bourgeois and too elitist.”[13] “The Fauchon company is broken, its image is blurry”, ads the writer Jean-Michel Salvator on his daily show at the radio station Europe 1[14]

Laurent Adamowicz bought Fauchon for 240 million French francs ($55 million).[15] This price includes the buildings on Place de la Madeleine that were sold the following year to the French developer OGIC, led by Jean Diaz.[16]


The Era of Renewal

A former investment banker, Managing Director and Partner respectively of the French bank Paribas and of Rothschild & Cie, experienced in the field of luxury products as a former member of the Supervisory Board of Van Cleef & Arpels, graduate of “École Supérieure de Commerce de Paris” (ESCP-Europe) and of the Wharton School (See article in the business newspaper Les Echos on October 3, 2003[17]), Laurent Adamowicz introduces marketing at Fauchon with the first advertising campaign on the theme of fashion in 1999. He organizes the full repositioning of the brand, its image, its graphic identity, its logos, and the entire range of packaging. He launches the creation of 700 new products under the Fauchon brand, introduced on the market from 1998 to 2003, in particular the new flavored teas of the Four Seasons, the “Pure Fruit” range of preserves, the foie gras made with Szechuan peppercorns, the caramel milk jam, the strawberry preserve with rose petals (See the article in the Spring 2003 issue of the Wharton Alumni Magazine[18]) He completes the repositioning of the Fauchon brand in its food universe of good products made simply and exceptionally and he also removes the brand from the mass-market retail channel and renovates the historical stores on Place de la Madeleine. Finally he launches the Fauchon commercial website for packaged goods and catering. As soon as the year 2000, under his management, Fauchon becomes a growing and profitable company again. Fauchon opens new stores in Japan, in South Korea, Taiwan, the Middle East, Europe, and finally in the United States where it never had a store before.

Prior to his purchase of Fauchon, Laurent Adamowicz had already announced his intent and that of his investor group to launch the company in the U.S. market in a very significant way. A press conference they held in early February 1998 made it official that their strategy was to invest 60 million French Francs ($14 million) over 5 years to conquer the United States market they called “the largest opportunity for the development” of Fauchon. See Les Echos newspaper article on February 5, 1998[19] and the article in Le Monde, likewise: “The buyer of Fauchon, the company Waldo, wants to develop the brand in the United States”[20]

“FAUCHON, the legendary Parisian market, has made its debut in New York. Its first American shop opened Monday at 442 Park Avenue, at 56th Street. For now, the glass display cases, shelves and free-standing consoles in the 3,600-square-foot store are stocked with pink and gold packages of fancy jams, chocolates, crackers, mustards, oils, vinegars, pickles, sauces and 109 kinds of tea,” writes Florence Fabricant in The New York Times on August 16, 2000.[21] She continues: “The candy counter is laden with chocolates, marrons glaces in four flavors, pates de fruit and marzipan creations. The jewel-like glace strawberries ($2 each) are not to be missed. Chocolate Eiffel Towers are $5 each. The pastry department is limited to delicious macaroons for the moment, and there are packaged cookies, and gradually other pastries, ice creams and sorbets will be added. It has taken Fauchon, which has 800 stores in 33 countries, this long to open in the United States because the company's emphasis was placed on establishing franchises in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. When Laurent Adamowicz bought the 114-year-old company in 1998, he set his sights on the American market. The $3 million New York store is company owned.”[22]

With a diversified investor group that included Michel Deroy and Jean-Francois Toulouse, former owners and managers of Dock de France supermarkets that they sold in 1996 for 18.5 billion French Francs ($4.2 billion); the investment fund Matignon Investissements et Gestion; the publicly listed UK fund Intermediate Capital Group; and Barclays Capital Development France, the company had the means of its ambitions to finance the desired expansion of Fauchon in the U.S. market. See article in Les Echos newspaper on April 2, 1998: “The new Chairman and CEO of Fauchon wants to bring the company to the United States”[23] and in La Tribune newspaper on the same day: “The gourmet epicerie Fauchon wants to conquer the American market”[24]

Barclays Private Equity France, a subsidiary of the Barclays plc Group, backed Laurent Adamowicz in his takeover of Fauchon to participate in its development in France and abroad. As can be read in the annual report of Barclays Private Equity France: “Laurent Adamowicz took the Fauchon destiny in his own hands and started the restructuring right away. His first actions included closing all the restaurants in the Place de la Madeleine, Paris store and replacing them with a “Salon de thé” (Fauchon Tea Salon) and the largest wine cellars in Paris. He also increased international brand presence with the opening of similar Fauchon Tea Salons in Asia and in New York on Park Avenue, followed by a second store on Madison Avenue.[25]

After the pastry chef Pierre Hermé and his pupil, Sébastien Godard, both left the company, Laurent Adamowicz trusted a very young pastry chef promoted from within, in 2000, to lead the pastry department at Fauchon: Christophe Adam. Still in charge today, Christophe Adam led up to 70 Fauchon pastry chefs after the takeover of the Paris stores purchased by Fauchon from Groupe Flo.

The brand renewal is particularly noticed with the reopening of the historic Tea Salon in Paris, followed by its replicas in Tokyo and New York. Of the more than 100 varieties, there is Soir de France, a blend of China and Sri Lanka teas flavored with apricot and blood orange and sprinkled with orange peel and petals of rose and sunflower.[26] The two references created then upon the launch of the tea salon, Soir de France and Un Après-Midi à Paris (An Afternoon in Paris) have both become Fauchon classics, among the best selling references today. During the year 2000, Fauchon also launches a noticeable innovation for tea-buffs around the world, the crystal tea bag, a ultra-fine nylon pouch that provides a better quality infusion, hence a better aroma for tea. Holly Finn, the Financial Times writer, signs an article on the new Fauchon Tea Salon under the title “Tea with Sympathy”. She writes: “For those weary of coffee and couture and in real need of something soothing, the Salon de Thé recently opened at the legendary Fauchon food emporium in Paris, is worth a winter visit. There, on Place de la Madeleine, the emphasis is not on fast-forwarding, either one’s heart rate or one’s fashion status. It’s about stopping – taking a deep breath and a long sip. No matter how rudely random Parisians have treated you that morning, you’ll soon feel better about the whole Franco-thing. A slice of Tarte au thé Darjeeling (a specialty of the house) restores confidence not just in your ability to translate, but in the civility of left-seat drivers, all sorts of things…. A reminder of the bond between tea and sympathy.”[27]

Fauchon in Figures

From 1998 to 2003, the number of franchised Fauchon stores goes from 450 to 650, the number of company-owned stores from 1 to 16 of which 3 in New York and 13 in Paris after the purchase by Fauchon of the Parisian stores of Groupe Flo[28][29] The number of licenses grows from 2 to 16 from 1998 to 2003, generating royalties that grow from 1.5 to 3 million Euros ($4.5 million) during the same period. In 2003, Fauchon has total sales of 90 million ($135 million) of which 30% export revenues for a profit of 5 million Euros ($7.5 million). (See the Article “Fauchon en Chiffres” – Fauchon in Figures – in the business newspaper La Tribune)[30]

In its annual report for 2001, Compagnie du Bois Sauvage, one of the Fauchon shareholders, shows in its Waldo S.A. Consolidated Audited Accounts, that Cash Flow from operations went from negative 2.3 million Euros ($3.4 million) in 1999 to a positive 1.4 million Euros ($2.2 million) in 2001. “Waldo S.A.: a French company controlling the famous House of Fauchon in Paris. The development of the Company is being pursued mainly in the United States”, says Compagnie du Bois Sauvage[31]

Back to the great time of Fauchon in the 1950s under the management of Joseph Pilosoff, Laurent Adamowicz restores in 2001 a close partnership with the airline company Air France: the Fauchon products are being offered to First Class passengers and on all the Air France flights in Concorde; an advertising movie is shown aboard all international flights at Air France. Fauchon creates the small pink handbag sold as a chocolate box/handbag that becomes the Fauchon brand signature for the next decade. This development moves along the opening of new Fauchon corner-stores in numerous airports around the world including at Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport. Between 1998 and 2003, the Fauchon Company grows from 360 to 900 employees of which 200 chefs de cuisine and pastry chefs combined.

“Fauchon finds the taste of profit”, says the Management magazine in 2003. “Laurent Adamowicz has succeeded. In 5 years, this ex-golden boy (Paribas and Rothschild) who does not hesitate to play salesman in his stores, was able to transform Fauchon. The venerable epicerie of luxury products he purchased in 1998 – that was nearly bankrupt – finally became a profitable company with 90 million Euros ($135 million) in sales and 5 million ($7.5 million) in EBIT for 2002. His last venture paid off too. The 12 Flo Prestige stores he bought from the restaurant group for 40 million Euros ($60 million) allowed to drive younger clients to the Fauchon brand while keeping the old-time regulars.[32]

The 2003 Crisis

Comes the crisis of Spring-Summer 2003: First there was the war in Iraq with the invasion and the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime in April 2003; followed in May 2003 with a worldwide scare due to the epidemic of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) virus; then came the frightening heat wave in Europe that hit France particularly hard with over 15,000 dead in August 2003; finally, the economic turbulences due to the collapse of the tourism market that year. Fauchon was very dramatically affected by the combination of all these events, especially at the time it had just converted to the Fauchon brand all the new Parisian stores it had just acquired.

In January 2004, Laurent Adamowicz gave away control of Fauchon to Compagnie du Bois Sauvage, the Belgian company listed on the Euronext market in Brussels, also the owner of the Chocolatier Neuhaus and chocolatier Marcolini, as well as a vast portfolio of real estate and financial holdings, including a large shareholding in Fortis Bank. Compagnie du Bois Sauvage takes over Fauchon along with the investment fund Matignon Investissement & Gestion, based in Paris, also a shareholder of CBS Finance (a banking subsidiary of Compagnie du Bois Sauvage);[33] and with Michel Ducros, a businessman based in Monaco and residing in Yens in Switzerland[34][35] who participates as a shareholder in Fauchon through several Luxembourg based companies, mostly through his 100% owned company, Levira Holdings S.A., that is being liquidated in 2009.[36] Michel Ducros becomes chairman and CEO of Fauchon in January 2004 and invites to participate in the capital of Fauchon on the one hand, the company Universal Capital Partners, owned and managed by Pierre Besnainou, founder of the web access company Liberty Surf and President of the European Jewish Congress in 2005[37] and on the other hand the Swiss group Gonset Holding S.A.[38]

In March 2004, Pierre Besnainou invites himself at Fauchon, says the French newspaper Le Figaro.[39] He will hold 10% of Fauchon. His arrival at Fauchon follows the departure of Laurent Adamowicz due to difficulties with his partners. He ended up giving up his 51% control ownership and abandoned his Chairmanship seat to Michel Ducros.[40]

The Ducros Era

Michel Ducros, born in Kehl in Germany in 1949, is none other than one of the sons of Gilbert Ducros (1928–2007), the founder of the Ducros spice business that he sold in 1992 to the Italian group Ferruzzi, for 1.6 billion French Francs ($360 million) following family infighting and financial difficulties. (See article in the magazine Le Point on January 17, 2007[41] and of L’Express magazine on August 9, 2007[42]) “I ended up a luxurious jobless at 43” (“Je me suis retrouvé chômeur de luxe à 43 ans”), says Michel Ducros. “With a huge mid-life crisis”, he ads.[43]

After many years of debacle, the Ferruzzi group went bankrupt and the Ducros spice business is now owned by McCormick & Company since 2002.

As for Michel Ducros, at Fauchon, he follows into the steps of his predecessor in terms of the brand image, its renewal started in 1998 with the introduction of the first advertising campaigns in 1999, the renovation of the stores, the new packaging, and the marketing efforts. However on the financial front Ducros took a radical departure. Fauchon has been losing millions under his management. Also, Michel Ducros incarnates the return of the Jet set era at Fauchon, in a radical twist against current recessionary trends;[44] champagne abounds again at Fauchon like it did during the era of the Prémats in the 80’s, today at Monaco Marine S.A., the Luxembourg-based boat repair and maintenance company owned by Michel Ducros, as related by the writer Nathania Cahen, in her article in the magazine L’Express on Michel Ducros and his “three big nights, successively reserved for the clients, partners, and personnel of Monaco Marine, all with Fauchon champagne flowing; Fauchon is the other business owned by the old king of spices, who decidedly navigates easily on the markets of luxury.”[45]»

Another press title sums up the situation at the company: “Michel Ducros : Des épices, des yachts et Fauchon” (Michel Ducros: Spices, yachts, and Fauchon)[46] “Personally, I only have a tiny fraction of the capital of the company. I have no intent of becoming the majority owner of Fauchon”, says Michel Ducros to the magazine Le Figaro Entreprises. “I only got appointed at the helm because I am the only industrial partner in the roundtable and the only one with spice experience. I am only a conductor.”[47]

In figures, the Ducros era can be summarized at Fauchon as 56 millions Euros ($ 84 million) of cumulative losses in 5 years from 2004 to 2009, under the management of Michel Ducros, based on the annual reports published by the main listed shareholder, Compagnie du Bois Sauvage.[48][49][50][51] Although when he took the job, Michel Ducros was quite confident in his ability to manage the Fauchon business. “After an 11 million Euros loss, Fauchon is going to break even this year” said Michel Ducros in an interview to the newspaper Le Figaro on Wednesday April 21, 2004.[52] It went on: “Three months after taking full command of Fauchon, Michel Ducros commits to balancing the books this year.” “Losses are not as preoccupying as they appear”, he said[53] But then, after nearly six years, Michel Ducros keeps announcing the return to profitability, to no avail. To the point the situation between him and the other shareholders has considerably deteriorated and he bought back almost all of them.

The Ducros strategy has been drastic: closing all the newly opened stores in Russia; then closing two of the three stores in New York as announced in The New York Times article on June 11, 2004: “Fauchon, the Paris-based luxury-food company, will close two of its three Manhattan stores today. The company will maintain its store at 442 Park Avenue, at 56th Street, but is closing the store at 1000 Madison Avenue, at 77th Street, the former site of the Sant Ambroeus coffee shop and restaurant, and the one at 1383 Third Avenue, at 78th Street.[54] He then proceeded to sell the Fauchon catering business to the French company Fleury Michon in 2004;[55] and then, in a surprising strategic move, Ducros sold all the Fauchon stores in Paris to his competitor Lenôtre the gastronomy stores founded by the world-famous pastry chef Gaston Lenôtre and now a subsidiary of the Accor hotel conglomerate. As a result, Lenôtre becomes the number one catering chain in Paris, a market that had been dominated by Fauchon until then. The article in Le Figaro sums up the situation: “Fauchon a perdu la bataille de Paris” (Fauchon has lost the battle of Paris). Michel Ducros admits: “We have been unable to manage all those stores and employees at the same time. We were unable to make them profitable.”[56] “I am not a manager but only an investor-entrepreneur” explains Ducros in the magazine L’Express in another interview[57] Corinne Scemama wrote in L’Express magazine recently: “After dumping his other departments and its Paris stores (sold to Lenôtre in 2005), after reducing the number of its employees (from 700 to 200), the new management of Fauchon has been shaking its image to place it into a glamour universe, reserved to the wealthy, the fashion victims, and French Boho chic.”[58]

In 2005, Elaine Sciolino, the American journalist who was the Paris bureau chief of The New York Times from 2002 to 2008, writes a detailed article on Fauchon at the time of the retreat: “Fauchon’s Food Empire Cedes Territory to a Rival”[59] “Of all the luxury food emporiums of Paris, none is better known than Fauchon. Founded in 1886 at the Place de la Madeleine by a pushcart grocer named Auguste Félix Fauchon, the company has built its reputation on signature products like its champagne mustard, marrons glacés and strawberry and rose water preserves. Tiny pink Fauchon purses serve as boxes for two Fauchon chocolates. About 120 teas, 50 vinegars, 131 jams, 30 forms of foie gras and 50 honeys are offered by Fauchon. But hélas, Fauchon is in trouble. Michel Ducros, its president and chief, announced earlier this week that he was selling 9 of Fauchon's 12 satellite shops in Paris to the rival gourmet food chain Lenôtre. The sale price is being kept confidential. A 10th store is being sold to another buyer; the two other stores in Paris were sold last year. "You won the battle of Paris," Mr. Ducros told Patrick Scicard, the president of Lenôtre, at a news conference in the tearoom of Fauchon's flagship Place de la Madeleine shop. "And we will reorganize ourselves as a result." The article goes on: “On a trip to Paris, just a few weeks ago, I noticed Fauchon was empty, while the department stores were booming.”[60]

“Fauchon is not going out of business, despite some reports last year that it was skirting bankruptcy. It will keep its restaurant, renovate its flagship store and focus more energy on developing its overseas markets, including its 10 stores outside France (among them its Park Avenue store in Midtown Manhattan)”, writes Elaine Sciolino.[61]

Yet, little did she know, in a continued retrenching strategy, Ducros went on to close the remaining store that Fauchon had opened in fanfare in 2000 in New York, while cashing out $4 million on its Park Avenue lease. (See article in the New York Times: “Demolition Plans Pit Developer Against Chocolatier”[62]).

In total, the Ducros management eliminated over 700 jobs at Fauchon. It went from 900 employees in 2004 to 200 employees in 2009.

New Developments

In spite of the 5 years of recurrent losses under his management ($84 million cumulative losses) and in large part due to the wealth bought about by the sale of his father’s spice business sold for 240 millions Euros ($360 million) in 1992,[63] Michel Ducros buys out most of the other shareholders, private and institutional. This includes his buy out of Barclays Private Equity France in 2005. Then more recently, he smartly takes advantage of the extremely difficult situation that Compagnie du Bois Sauvage finds itself embroiled into, to buy them out as well. Compagnie du Bois Sauvage and its CEO, Vincent Doumier are being investigated for insider trading on the sale of their respective shares of Fortis Bank.[64] “Brussels holding company Bois Sauvage threw 3.6 million Fortis shares onto the market on October 3, 2008, just before the bank's second bail-out. During the following weekend, the Belgian government concluded a deal with BNP Paribas on the sale of Fortis. Judicial authorities in the capital say that they now have indications that the holding company ditched its Fortis shares on that day with prior knowledge.”[65] See the online article in the Wall Street Journal as well[66][67][68]

Not only did he purchase the entire 36% Fauchon stake of Compagnie du Bois Sauvage, but Michel Ducros also bought out the shares held by Matignon Investissement & Gestion investment fund. As of now, he holds over 90% of the share capital of Fauchon.[69] “I invest on the long term as an entrepreneur”, says Michel Ducros. “To prove it, this year, Michel Ducros just purchased shares from minority investors tired of financing the deficits”, says the magazine Le Point.[70] “An act of faith” says the boss; “I am very confident” answers Pierre Besnaïnou, the former founder of Liberty Surf and still a minority shareholder of Fauchon [71]

New Horizons

Morocco, Switzerland, and China are the new territories targeted by Fauchon. Michel Ducros just announced the soon-to-be-opened Fauchon store in Casablanca;[72] and the opening of a Fauchon store in Geneva where Fauchon had already opened a store under the Prémat management that had been closed a few years after it opened, due to mounting losses. China is also targeted as a very promising development with the announcement, in October 2007, of 13 stores[73] to be opened by the Chinese company, Beijing Hualian Group, a leading chain of supermarkets, on the model of the large store it opened in a mall in Beijing near the Olympic Stadium. Two years later, two of the three floors of the Beijing store have already been closed, explains Les Echos in a severe article of October 29, 2009.[74] “Fauchon must reassess its plans after its failures to balance its books due to its local losses”. Adds Isabelle Capron , Chief Operating Officer of Fauchon: “China may be the future Japan, but not for right now”[75]

To help in the development of the new Fauchon projects, Michel Ducros created a new company, Fauchon Trading S.A.,[76] an anonymous company (“société anonyme”), based in Luxembourg like most of the other companies of his group, generally Luxembourg-based (like Jazz S. à. r. l.,[77] Stratinvest S.A.,[78] Drum S.A.,[79] Eucelia Investments S.A.,[80] Gedena Société Anonyme,[81] Luxembourgeoise de Financement S.A.,[82] Physiocée International S.A.,[83] GENSAT S.A.,[84] J.H.F. Holding S.A.[85] AB INTERNATIONAL S.A.,[86] CAPOFFICE Société Anonyme,[87] AGRINVEST EUROPE S.A., a company in which Compagnie du Bois Sauvage is a shareholder as well[88]) or sometimes based in other tax heavens, like for instance the British Virgin Islands.[89] Michel Ducros is also the majority shareholder of a French lighting fixture retailer, Laurie Lumière, and of two Campanile hotels in Brussels and Luxembourg[90]

Adding to the financial difficulties of the current crisis that hit luxury retailers very hard, and Fauchon in particular, a crisis of confidence appeared as well: The main supplier of Fauchon, the tea importing company, Dammann Frères, decided to develop its own brand of tea and now to open its own stores under the Dammann brand name. As written up in details by the French magazine Marie Claire, Dammann Frères, “the most prestigious brand of French tea in a historical site”, launched its first Dammann tea store close to Fauchon’s competitor Mariage Frères, on Place des Vosges, in the 4th arrondissement of Paris.[91] While presenting a product that is strictly identical to that of Fauchon, Dammann sells it tea at half the price as Fauchon on Place de la Madeleine. “Damman Frères is a family business that for three generations makes exceptional tea. Today, this house of tea offers itself to the public by opening on Place des Vosges its first store in a historic backdrop, the old house of the Académie des Beaux-Arts that became a museum, then a historic landmark library”, says Marie Claire Maison [92]

As a return to the errors of the years 1980-1990 described by the writer Jean-Michel Salvator,[93] Michel Ducros in 2009, reintroduces the Fauchon brand at mass-market retailers like Carrefour, 15 years after the fiasco orchestrated by the Prémats. Le Figaro newspaper explains: “A section reserved to the Fauchon products will be set up in the Carrefour store at Porte d'Auteuil, in Paris.”[94]

At the end of the 1990s Fauchon had embraced distribution at mass-market retailers and had multiplied its selling outlets. “The increase in volumes diluted the brand’s value”, recognizes Michel Ducros in the recent article in L’Express magazine[95]

The Fauchon brand dilution follows the drastic strategy organized by Michel Ducros in every segment of retailing and distribution. A strategy that cost him personally some 25 million Euros ($38 million)[96] Lately, to redeploy the Fauchon of the 21st century all over the planet, Michel Ducros puts the final touch on his secret new pet project code-named “F 50”. “There could be 100 of these new stores in airports, 100 in China, 20 in Korea, 50 in France…. It may sound like euphoria to say that but I believe in it” says Ducros[97]

One must admit that after he has repainted the town in pink and bought out all the other shareholders, Ducros seems to be wearing pink glasses. “Few people internally will argue against his new bet: Michel Ducros is now the owner of over 90% of the business. But La Vie en Rose (Life in Pink), will have to be measured by the number of happy customers leaning on the windows.” So concludes the writer Domitille Arrivet in her full length article on Fauchon in Le Point magazine on October 8, 2009.[98]

Competition

Main competitors of Fauchon on the worldwide gourmet and luxury food products scene include Harrods and Fortnum & Mason in London and Mariage Frères, Le Palais des Thés, Dammann Frères, Kusmi Tea, Lenôtre, and Hédiard in Paris. Additionally, one cannot ignore the arrival of a new contender in the exclusive club of high fashion / luxury tea merchants, the Singapore based company TWG that belongs to The Wellness Group. (See the article in Forbes on December 14, 2009[99]). TWG’s success in gaining customers from Fauchon and other leading luxury tea brands can be attributed in large part to its recruiting of Taha Bouqdib.[100]

In Thomas Harris's book Hannibal (1999), the infamous fictional serial killer Hannibal Lecter, while on a flight from Europe to America, waits until everyone is asleep before producing a Fauchon food parcel of aromatic truffled pate de foie gras and Anatolian figs, as well as a half bottle of St Estephe which Harris says he favours.

In Cast Away, the 2000 movie directed by Robert Zemeckis, Chuck Noland, the FedEx executive (starring Tom Hanks) hands his colleagues before they board the plane, a Fauchon bag containing fresh baguette bread from Paris. The distinctive Fauchon logo of the bag stands out. Later in the movie, one wishes he had kept the bag.

Sources / References

  1. ^ Source: Journal du Dimanche newspaper, February 8, 1998, Article by Jean-Michel Salvator “Fauchon s’impose comme la première épicerie de luxe de France ; On y trouve les produits les plus fins ou les plus inattendus”
  2. ^ Source: Wharton Alumni Magazine, Spring 2003, Issue 347
  3. ^ Source: The Daily Deal, Tuesday May 21, 2002, Article by Matt Miller, “Pass the foie gras”
  4. ^ Source: Le Figaro newspaper, Issue #16643, Monday February 16, 1998, Interview of Martine Prémat
  5. ^ Source: “Martine PRÉMAT a démocratisé le luxe” Page seen on October 8, 2009
  6. ^ Source: Capital magazine, Issue of May 1997, Article on page 54-55 by Eddy Murano, “Succès et Dérapages, Conjoncture défavorable, banalisation des produits, erreurs de gestion…. L’enseigne chic n’a plus la pêche ; Fauchon, un épicier fauché”
  7. ^ Source: Capital magazine, Issue of May 1997, Article on pages 54-55 by Eddy Murano, “La rumeur enfle dans le Paris de la gastronomie : Fauchon, fauché. Un coup d’œil sur les comptes de cette maison familiale suffit pour comprendre que la situation est préoccupante : son chiffre d’affaires stagne depuis le début de la décennie autour de 250 millions de Francs. Et les pertes succèdent aux pertes avec des creux de 5 millions en 1991, 4,7 millions en 1993 et surtout 11,9 millions en 1996 pour un endettement de 73 millions de Francs et des capitaux propres négatifs de 4,9 millions”
  8. ^ Source: Capital magazine, Issue of May 1997, article on pages 54-55 by Eddy Murano: “Mais surtout, le traiteur a pris le risque, en 1993, d’effectuer un changement stratégique majeur pour son image. Une initiative qui a fait l’effet d’une bombe : l’épicier de luxe est entré dans la grande distribution : Carrefour, Auchan, Champion, Casino. On trouve aujourd’hui ses produits dans 110 hypermarchés…. Vendus en moyenne 5% moins cher qu’a la Madeleine. Fauchon s’est banalisé : on trouve les mêmes articles ailleurs et à un meilleur prix, affirme un fournisseur. Je l’ai constaté avec un de mes produits, vendu 70% moins cher chez un autre de mes clients parisiens. Fauchon s’est dévalorisé aux yeux de ses clients.”
  9. ^ Source: “Martine PRÉMAT a démocratisé le luxe”, Page seen on October 8, 2009
  10. ^ Source: Journal du Dimanche newspaper, article on February 8, 1998, by Jean-Michel Salvator “La famille se déchire. L’entreprise ne sait plus ou elle va. Mais Fauchon a surtout été victime de ses propres erreurs. Erreur stratégique, lorsque l’épicier se met à faire vendre ses produits dans la grande distribution, chez Carrefour ou Auchan. Erreur de gestion, lorsqu’il se lance dans la croisière, avec la construction d’un yacht destiné à promouvoir la gastronomie française”
  11. ^ Source: Capital magazine, Issue of May 1997, Article on pages 54-55 by Eddy Murano, “Succès et Dérapages - Fauchon, un épicier fauché”
  12. ^ Source: Gault Millau magazine, Issue #327, February/March 1998, pages 31-34, “Enquête : La vérité sur Fauchon, L’ambassadeur de la gastronomie française a le vernis qui s’écaille. Fauchon est-il toujours Fauchon ? Pour juger, nous avons testé de nombreux produits. Au rayon gastronomie, nous avons été consternés par des boudins blancs fades et farineux (goûtés à plusieurs reprises), un boudin noir tout aussi médiocre, des taramas quelconques, etc.”
  13. ^ Source: Le Figaro, Article of December 31, 2005, “Fauchon, la Griffe Gourmande”: “Quand Laurent Adamowicz reprend Fauchon en 1998, le magasin souffre d’une image désuète, bourgeoise et par trop élitiste”
  14. ^ Source: Europe 1 radio station, Le Journal de l’Économie, on February 4, 1998 at 6:50 AM: “La société est en panne ; Fauchon tâtonne, son image se trouble.”
  15. ^ Source: L’Express magazine, article of April 16, 1998, page 19, “Fauchon pas fauché”
  16. ^ Source: OGIC, promotion immobilière, Page seen on October 11, 2009
  17. ^ Source: Les Echos newspaper, Issue #19002 of October 3, 2003, page 50, Distribution, Entreprise et Marchés, En Vue, Laurent Adamowicz
  18. ^ Source: Wharton Alumni Magazine, Spring 2003, Issue 347
  19. ^ Source: Les Echos newspaper, issue #17579, of February 5, 1998, page 18, “Waldo veut développer Fauchon aux Etats-Unis” (Waldo wants to develop Fauchon in the United States)
  20. ^ Source: Le Monde newspaper article, issue #16493, February 5, 1998, “La vente de Fauchon relance les grandes manœuvres sur le marché de l’épicerie de luxe. Le repreneur, la société Waldo, veut développer la marque aux États-Unis” (“The buyer of Fauchon, the company Waldo, wants to develop the brand in the United States”)
  21. ^ Source: The New York Times, Article by Florence Fabricant, on August 16, 2000, “Fauchon Opens A Market in Midtown”
  22. ^ Source: Ibid
  23. ^ Source: Les Echos newspaper, issue #17619, of April 2, 1998, page 19, “Le nouveau PDG de Fauchon veut implanter l'entreprise aux Etats-Unis” (“The new Chairman and CEO of Fauchon wants to bring the company to the United States”)
  24. ^ Source: La Tribune newspaper, April 2, 1998, article page 11, “L’épicerie fine Fauchon veut conquérir le marché américain” (“The gourmet epicerie Fauchon wants to conquer the American market”)
  25. ^ Source: Web site Barclays Private Equity France, Page seen on October 8, 2009
  26. ^ Source: Wharton Alumni Magazine, Spring 2003, Issue 347
  27. ^ Source: The Financial Times, Article of January 22–23, 2000, by Holly Finn “Tea with Sympathy”
  28. ^ Source: Le Figaro newspaper, Article of March 20, 2003, “Laurent Adamowicz redéploie Fauchon”
  29. ^ Source: Le Parisien newspaper, Article of October 1, 2003, ‘Fauchon s’installe chez Flo et mise sur la proximité”
  30. ^ Source: La Tribune newspaper, Article of October 1, 2003, “Fauchon devient une enseigne de proximité ; Fauchon en chiffres”
  31. ^ Source: Annual Report 2001, Compagnie du Bois Sauvage, Page 17, Page seen on November 15, 2009
  32. ^ Source: Management magazine, Article of December 2003, “Fauchon retrouve le goût des benefices; Laurent Adamowicz a réussi son pari. En cinq ans, cet ex-golden boy (Paribas et Rothschild), qui n’hésite pas à aller jouer les vendeurs dans ses magasins, a su transformer Fauchon. La vénérable épicerie de luxe qu’il a rachetée en 1998 – elle était alors fortement déficitaire – est enfin devenue une affaire rentable : 90 millions d’Euros de chiffre d’affaires pour un résultat d’exploitation de 5 millions en 2002. Et son dernier coup d’éclat a payé. Les douze magasins du traiteur Flo Prestige, repris il y a un an pour 40 millions d’Euros au groupe de restauration en difficulté, lui ont permis de rajeunir sa clientèle tout en conservant son public d’origine.
  33. ^ Source: Portfolio of companies owned by Matignon Investissement & Gestion
  34. ^ Source: Mémorial, Journal Officiel du Grand-Duché du Luxembourg, C — N° 1620 of August 21, 2009
  35. ^ Source: Le Point magazine, Issue #1665, Article published on January 17, 2007, “Les nouvelles recettes de Michel Ducros” (The new recipes of Michel Ducros)
  36. ^ Source: Mémorial, Journal Officiel du Grand-Duché du Luxembourg, C — N° 879 of April 24, 2009, Page 42174, “LEVIRA HOLDINGS S.A., Dissolution ; la partie comparante, en sa qualité d'actionnaire unique de la Société, a décidé de procéder à la dissolution anticipée et immédiate de la Société et de la mettre en liquidation”
  37. ^ Source: Site Le Chef.com, Article of March 2, 2004, Page seen on October 7, 2009
  38. ^ Source: Website NeoRestauration.com, Article of May 18, 2005, Page seen on October 7, 2009
  39. ^ Source: Le Figaro, Article of March 2, 2004, “Pierre Besnainou s’invite chez Fauchon”
  40. ^ Source: Ibid, “Pierre Besnainou s’invite chez Fauchon. Il détiendra ainsi 10% du groupe d’épicerie fine ; son entrée dans Fauchon (80 millions d’Euros de chiffre d’affaires, 900 salariés), fait suite au départ en January du patron et actionnaire majoritaire, Laurent Adamowicz, dont les rapports avec ses partenaires étaient tendus, Celui-ci a fini par leur céder ses 51% du capital, abandonnant son fauteuil de PDG à Michel Ducros.”
  41. ^ Source: Le Point magazine, Issue #1665, Article published on January 17, 2007 “En 1992, le groupe Ducros et Fils est numéro un des épices en Europe, et la famille ne résiste pas à l'offre de rachat mirifique (1,6 milliard de francs - soit pratiquement le chiffre d'affaires) que lui fait l'italien Ferruzzi avant sa retentissante faillite.
  42. ^ Source: L’Express magazine, Article of August 9, 2007, page 44-46, “Quand Ducros se jette à l’eau” (When Ducros takes a dive), Page Seen on October 9, 2009
  43. ^ Source: Ibid
  44. ^ Source: TourMag.com, Page seen on October 10, 2009, Ouverture très ‘people’ à Monaco,…. Club Monégasque et Michel Ducros
  45. ^ Source: L’Express magazine, Article of August 9, 2007, pages 44-46, “Quand Ducros se jette à l’eau”(When Ducros takes a dive), “trois grandes soirées successivement réservées aux clients, aux institutionnels et au personnel de Monaco Marine. Le tout arrosé... au champagne Fauchon, l'autre business de l'ancien roi des épices, qui, décidément, navigue avec aisance sur les marchés du luxe”, Page seen on October 9, 2009
  46. ^ Source: Le Figaro Entreprises magazines, Article of Monday January 19, 2004, “Michel Ducros : Des épices, des yachts et Fauchon” (Michel Ducros: Spices, yachts, and Fauchon)
  47. ^ Source: Ibid “A titre personnel, confie-t-il au Figaro Entreprise, je n’ai qu’une infime part du capital de Fauchon. Je n’ai pas vocation à devenir majoritaire. Mes amis m’ont mis aux commandes parce que je suis l’unique industriel dans le tour de table et aussi le seul épicier. Je ne suis qu’un chef d’orchestre.
  48. ^ Source: Annual Reports from 2000 to 2008, Compagnie du Bois Sauvage, Page seen on October 10, 2009
  49. ^ Source: Annual Report 2005, Compagnie du Bois Sauvage, Page 31, Page seen on October 10, 2009
  50. ^ Source: Annual Report 2006, Compagnie du Bois Sauvage, Page 33, Page seen on October 10, 2009
  51. ^ Source: Annual Report 2007, Compagnie du Bois Sauvage, Page 34, Page seen on October 10, 2009
  52. ^ Source: Le Figaro newspaper, Issue #18571, of April 21, 2004, “Fauchon vise l’équilibre cette année”
  53. ^ Source: Ibid
  54. ^ Source: The New York Times, Article of June 11, 2004, “New York: Manhattan: Fauchon Closing 2 Of 3 Stores”, Page seen on October 11, 2009
  55. ^ Source: Les Echos newspaper, Issue #19268, Article of October 19, 2004, “Fleury-Michon acquiert les plateaux-repas de Fauchon”, Page seen on October 11, 2009
  56. ^ Source: Le Figaro newspaper, Article of May 19, 2005, “L’épicerie de luxe vend neuf boutiques à Lenôtre. Fauchon a perdu la bataille de Paris.” “Nous n’avons pas su gérer tous ces magasins et tous ces salariés à la fois, nous n’avons pas su les amener à la rentabilité, confesse Michel Ducros”, Page seen on October 8, 2009
  57. ^ Source: L’Express magazine, Article of August 9, 2007, Pages 44-46, “Quand Ducros se jette à l’eau” (When Ducros takes a dive) “Je ne suis pas un manager, mais un investisseur-entrepreneur, résume-t-il, Page seen on October 9, 2009
  58. ^ Source: L’Express magazine, Article of January 17, 2008, page 75, “Fauchon, L’épicier chic et choc’, by Corinne Scemama
  59. ^ Source: The New York Times, Article of May 20, 2005, by Elaine Sciolino, “Fauchon’s Food Empire Cedes Territory to a Rival”
  60. ^ Source: Ibid
  61. ^ Source: Ibid
  62. ^ Source: The New York Times, Article of April 23, 2006, “Demolition Plans Pit Developer Against Chocolatier”, Page seen on October 11, 2009
  63. ^ Source: Le Point magazine, Issue #1665, Article published on January 17, 2007, “En 1992, le groupe Ducros et Fils est numéro un des épices en Europe, et la famille ne résiste pas à l'offre de rachat mirifique (1,6 milliard de francs - soit pratiquement le chiffre d'affaires) que lui fait l'italien Ferruzzi avant sa retentissante faillite.”
  64. ^ Source: Website www.mediargus.be Holding Bois Sauvage involved in insider trading: Fortis executives alleged to have tipped Brussels holding company Page seen on October 17, 2009
  65. ^ Source: Ibid
  66. ^ Source: www.online.wsj.com, Bois Sauvage CEO Detained Over Alleged Fortis Insider Trading, Page seen on October 17, 2009
  67. ^ Source: www.flanderstoday.eu “Vincent Doumier, CEO of the Brussels holding Bois Sauvage, has been detained and has come under suspicion of insider trading of Fortis shares for the second time, on his own account.”
  68. ^ Source: La Libre Belgique newspaper, Article of September 11, 2009, Page seen on October 11, 2009, “Holding Bois Sauvage: Vincent Doumier en prison. Le patron du holding Bois Sauvage a été l'objet, jeudi, d'un mandat d'arrêt. Au menu : délit d'initié, faux et usage de faux. Dans le dossier Fortis.”
  69. ^ Source: Le Point magazine, Issue #1933, Article of October 8, 2009, “Michel Ducros est propriétaire de plus de 90 % de son affaire”
  70. ^ Source: Le Point magazine, Issue #1933, Article of October 8, 2009, “Fauchon version fashion”, “Michel Ducros vient encore de racheter cette année les parts d'actionnaires minoritaires lassés d'essuyer des deficits”
  71. ^ Source: Ibid
  72. ^ Source: Fauchon official website
  73. ^ Source: Le Figaro newspaper, Article of October 14, 2007, “Fauchon veut ouvrir treize magasins en Chine”
  74. ^ Source: Les Echos newspaper, issue #20541 of October 29, 2009, page 19, “Fauchon revoit ses plans après des déconvenues” (“Fauchon must reassess its plans after its failures”)
  75. ^ Source: Les Echos newspaper, issue #20541 of October 29, 2009, ibid, “la Chine est sûrement le futur Japon, mais ce n'est pas pour tout de suite” (“China may be the future Japan, but not for right now”)
  76. ^ Source: Mémorial, Journal Officiel du Grand-Duché du Luxembourg, C — N° 1620 of August 21, 2009, Page seen on October 11, 2009, and C — N° 2537 of November 8, 2007, Page seen on October 8, 2009
  77. ^ Source: Mémorial, Journal Officiel du Grand-Duché du Luxembourg, C — N° 834 of August 13, 2003, Page seen on October 11, 2009
  78. ^ Source: Mémorial, Journal Officiel du Grand-Duché du Luxembourg, C — N° 1697 of November 27, 2002, Page seen on October 11, 2009
  79. ^ Source: Mémorial, Journal Officiel du Grand-Duché du Luxembourg, C — N° 834 of August 13, 2003, Page seen on October 11, 2009
  80. ^ Source: Mémorial, Journal Officiel du Grand-Duché du Luxembourg, C — N° 1208 of November 15, 2008, Page seen on October 11, 2009
  81. ^ Source: Mémorial, Journal Officiel du Grand-Duché du Luxembourg, C — N° 968 of September 19, 2003, Page seen on October 11, 2009
  82. ^ Source: Mémorial, Journal Officiel du Grand-Duché du Luxembourg, C — N° 561 of July 24, 2001, Page seen on October 11, 2009
  83. ^ Source: Mémorial, Journal Officiel du Grand-Duché du Luxembourg, C — N° 1452 of October 8, 2002, Page seen on October 11, 2009 and C — N° 1006 on November 14, 2001, Page seen on October 11, 2009
  84. ^ Source: Mémorial, Journal Officiel du Grand-Duché du Luxembourg, C — N° 670 of June 30, 2004, Page seen on October 11, 2009 and C — N° 675 of May 2, 2002, Page seen on October 11, 2009
  85. ^ Source: Mémorial, Journal Officiel du Grand-Duché du Luxembourg, C — N° 99 of February 26, 1997, Page 4400, Page seen on October 11, 2009
  86. ^ Source: Mémorial, Journal Officiel du Grand-Duché du Luxembourg, C — N° 1009 of December 29, 1999, Page seen on October 21, 2009 and Mémorial, Journal Officiel du Grand-Duché du Luxembourg, C — N° 1022 October 13, 2004, Page 49053, Page seen on October 21, 2009
  87. ^ Source : Mémorial, Journal Officiel du Grand-Duché du Luxembourg, C — N° 840 of October 3, 2001, Pages 40279-40282, Pages seen on October 21, 2009
  88. ^ Source: Mémorial, Journal Officiel du Grand-Duché du Luxembourg (Official Journal of the Luxembourg government), issue C — N° 822, August 11, 2004, pages 39430 to 39432, pages seen on November 14, 2009
  89. ^ Source: Source: Mémorial, Journal Officiel du Grand-Duché du Luxembourg, C — N° 82 du January 28, 2003, Page 3897, Page seen on October 11, 2009
  90. ^ Source: Le Figaro Entreprises magazine, Article of January 19, 2004, “Michel Ducros : Des épices, des yacht et Fauchon” (Michel Ducros: Spices, yachts, and Fauchon)
  91. ^ Source: Marie Claire Maison magazine, “Dammann Frères : La plus prestigieuse marque de thés français dans un cadre historique, Page seen on October 8, 2009
  92. ^ Source: Ibid, “Damman Frères, c'est une entreprise familiale qui depuis trois générations excelle dans la fabrication de thé exceptionnel. Aujourd'hui l'excellence de cette maison s'offre au public, en ouvrant sur la place des Vosges sa première boutique dans un cadre historique (anciennement maison des Beaux-Arts appliqués, puis musée et enfin bibliothèque classée monument historique)
  93. ^ Source: Le Journal du Dimanche newspaper, February 8, 1998, “Fauchon veut retrouver son lustre d’antan” by Jean-Michel Salvator
  94. ^ Source: Le Figaro newspaper, Article of May 12, 2009, “Carrefour teste des hypermarchés sur mesure pour ses clients; Un espace réservé aux produits signés Fauchon va être aménagé dans le magasin Carrefour de la porte d'Auteuil, à Paris”
  95. ^ Source: L’Express magazine, Article by Corinne Scemama on January 17, 2008, page 75 “Fauchon, L’épicier chic et choc”; “L'augmentation des volumes a dilué la valeur de la marque, reconnaît Michel Ducros”
  96. ^ Source: Le Point magazine, Issue #1933, Article of October 8, 2009, “Fauchon version fashion”; “Une promotion qui lui a coûté la bagatelle de 25 millions d’Euros”
  97. ^ Source: Ibid, Le Point magazine, “Il pourrait y avoir 100 de ces nouveaux points de vente dans les aéroports, 100 en Chine, 20 en Corée, 50 en France... Cela peut paraître euphorique de dire cela, mais j'y crois”, confie Ducros
  98. ^ Source: Ibid, “Peu de gens contesteront ce nouveau pari : Michel Ducros est propriétaire de plus de 90 % de son affaire. Mais la vie en rose, c'est au nombre de mines réjouies penchées sur les vitrines qu'elle se mesurera.” Article by Domitille Arrivet in Le Point magazine on October 8, 2009
  99. ^ Source: Forbes magazine, "TWG's Ritzy Tea" article, December 14, 2009
  100. ^ Source: ditto, Forbes magazine article, "TWG's Ritzy Tea"

These are the main links to the companies specifically cited in the article above:

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