The Clergerie shoe brand taken over by the American Titan Footwear

The ax has fallen: the French shoemaker Clergerie falls into the American hands and avoids judicial liquidation. Thursday, June 29, justice ruled in favor of the takeover offer of the American Titan Footwear, the only one to have maintained its proposal to buy the emblematic shoemaker Clergerie. He will therefore be able to acquire the French company in receivership since March 29.

In financial difficulty, the company founded in 1981 in Romans-sur-Isère (Drôme) by Robert Clergerie had been the subject of at least five partial offers, consulted by AFP, between the end of April and the end of May. But only one candidate had maintained his own, Titan Footwear, a subsidiary of the Californian group Titan Industries, Inc. The American company presents itself as specializing in “haute couture” footwear, with brands such as Daniel X Diamond and Badgley Mischka. Titan Footwear indicates that it has achieved a gross annual turnover of 50 million dollars in 2022, according to the recovery plan registered in mid-June at the registry of the Paris commercial court and consulted by AFP.

Titan Footwear had lined up 700,000 euros to buy Clergerie, with “initial investments (revival of activity and brand)” amounting to 6.5 million. The company is committed to maintaining 45% of the workforce, ie 59 of the 134 employees, by making significant reductions, particularly among technical staff (stitching operators, prototyping, assembly, retouching, finishing, etc.). “They are committed to maintaining the workforce for two years, but after that, what are they going to do? We are afraid that they will keep the brand and produce entirely abroad”, was moved to AFP Christophe Chanron, CFE-CGC union representative, at the Paris Commercial Court on June 14. If the group has promised to keep a production "minimum in the workshops of Romans", it intends to lean on a Spanish company whose "collaborations are in India, China and Morocco" to relocate part of the production.

This relocation of production will be a historic break for the shoemaker, which was until now one of the last to manufacture leather shoes in France in its factory, just like Paraboot, J.M. Weston or Heschung. From Lauren Bacall to Madonna, the biggest stars have had Clergerie on their feet. During its heyday, the house had exported its shoes to Hollywood and its historic store in the center of Paris sold up to 11,000 pairs a year.