Enrique Martinez: “Many opportunities could interest Fnac Darty”

In an economic context marked by inflation, “consumers have tended to abandon household appliances, but also electronic products,” says Enrique Martinez, general manager of the Fnac Darty group on the set of “Esprit d’entreprise” , the economic program of the channel Le Figaro TV Île-de-France. In addition to the economic situation, it should be remembered that many homes were over-equipped at the time of the health crisis and the rise of teleworking.” On the other hand, Fnac is experiencing good momentum with its departments dedicated to culture, “books, mangas but also ticketing, which have established themselves as safe haven markets”. In France, it is the largest seller of books, with 17% market share. Year after year, the brand faces the dematerialization of many products such as DVDs and CDs, which remain at the heart of its stores.

“We are not abandoning them, because there are always customers who do not want to go digital. It’s also an opportunity for us to make these products collector’s items, with special editions of series or albums, says the manager. The meteoric rise of vinyl over the past four years also proves that trends can resurface. » Number two in e-commerce in France, Fnac Darty has often been shown to have an appetite for CDiscount, within the Casino group. “We never spoke out,” recalls Enrique Martinez. Many opportunities could interest us on the market, we are not excluding anything, but we are certainly not confirming. » His group is attentive to the consolidation of the distribution market which is accelerating globally.

“Faced with major players capable of delivering strong industrial synergies, the merger of Fnac and Darty carried out eight years ago allowed us to have a critical size to continue to develop but also to get through unexpected bad periods. like the pandemic,” explains the manager. It is looking at opportunities on a European scale, having recently concluded partnerships in Switzerland or acquired MediaMarkt in Portugal. A few days ago, the group listed on the Paris Stock Exchange saw its first shareholder, the Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky (owner in France of the Editis publishing group, the CMI press group, more recently Casino), rise to 29%. of its capital, below the regulatory threshold before a takeover bid.

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“Daniel Kretinsky has the talent to invest in industries – like retail – on the European continent, at a time when no one is interested in them,” says Enrique Martinez. He has not yet chosen to have a place on the board of Fnac Darty, and is not involved in the group's strategy on a daily basis. » “The structures that are in place today suit me perfectly, the Stock Exchange allows us to have exposure to the markets and to raise capital for the development of activities,” adds the manager. For Fnac Darty, which invented its famous trust contract twenty years ago, the future lies in the repairability and recycling of objects. Now, 2,500 of the group's technicians travel to their homes 1 million times a year. Repair today generates 120 million euros in business volume, increasing by 30% each year.