Furet du Nord

Furet du Nord
Société anonyme
IndustryRetailer
Founded1936; 83 years ago (1936) in Lille
FounderGeorges Poulard
Headquarters,
France
Number of locations
20
Area served
Nord, France
Key people
  • Pierre Coursières
  • Paul Callens (1923-2009)
ProductsBooks
Stationery
Music
Multimedia
Revenue€81,226,000 (2018)
€2,024,000 (2018)
SubsidiariesDecitre
Websitewww.furet.com (in French)

Furet du Nord is a chain of bookstores from Lille in the Nord department of France. Its origins date back to 1936 when a fur store located on Rue de la Vieille-Comédie was transformed into a bookstore. It retained its name, referring to a local tradition: rabbit hunting with ferrets.

Today, the most important store is located in Lille on the Grand Place. It was established in 1959 and was the largest bookstore in the world from 1992 to 1999.[1] It is still the largest bookshop in Europe today.[2]

History

Originally, Furet du Nord (English: Ferret of the North) was a fur shop, located on the Rue de la Vieille-Comédie in Lille. The 70 m2 store was transformed in 1936 into a bookstore by Georges Poulard, a high school principal. Despite the fact that the activity is different, the new owner decided to keep the name "Furet du Nord".[3][4][5]

In 1947, he employed Paul Callens.[5] Paul Callens was passionate about books and reading, even if he came from a family where the father, a butcher in Tourcoing, did not indulge and did not understand this passion.[6] Not satisfied with his position as a salesman and the size of the shop, Paul had in mind to buy his shop, but he did not have the money to do it. In 1950, after having discussed and explained to his dairy and friend, Florence; it goes back from his cellar with a tin box or a package wrapped in a newspaper containing his savings and enough to buy the bookstore, which Paul did the next day.[5][7] While he was at the café, he hears that Galleries Barbès will close their furniture store on the Place du Général-de-Gaulle in Lille. He had the idea of moving Furet into the premises. There were other contenders for the location – Renault wanted it for a concession. Paul Callens, therefore, decided to go, for the first time, to Paris, to the management of Galleries Barbès.[5][8] The man explained his plans, convinced them and installed his company on 1 August 1959 on the Grand'Place in Lille[3][9] with an initial 20 m2, and then 600 m2.[8] The shop was the first self-service bookstore[3] (500 m2 at the time) and moved in 1963 the first paperbacks radius of France in his basement.[10] In 1960 begin the now traditional dedications.[3] In 1970, a youth department was built in the basement.[3]

In 1982, Paul Callens' family business became a public company and began to open other stores in the area. The area of Furet du Nord experienced growth in 1982 and 1992, increasing from 500 m2 to 4,000 m2 and then 7,000 m2.[3] Today, it hosts an average of 12,000 daily visitors. In 1996, Furet set up the first bookstore on the Internet.[citation needed] The site now offers 350,000 French-speaking references. In July 1999, Extrapole, a chain of multimedia cultural stores, and its shareholder Lagardère Services bought Furet du Nord.[11]

During the summer of 2001, Lagardère[citation needed] (formerly Hachette Distribution Services) acquired the French network of Virgin Megastores, becoming the second-largest French group specialized in the distribution of cultural products (ahead of the French group Pinault Printemps Redoute). For reasons of regional notoriety, Furet du Nord retained its name. At the beginning of November 2007, Lagardère announces that it was in exclusive negotiations with the French investment fund Butler Capital Partners (BCP). At the end of November, the works council unanimously accepted the change of main shareholding, with the acquisition of a stake of about 80% in the Virgin / Furet investment fund. The same month, the group announced that the bookstore located in Boulogne-sur-Mer since 1990 was to close at the end of January 2008. In the summer of 2008, two subsidiaries of the regional bank of Crédit Agricole Nord de France, Vauban Partners (Paris) and Participex Gestion (Lille), took control of the capital. This operation made it possible to repay the debt (€15 million) and contributed €10 million in equity.[12][3]

From the separation with Virgin Megastores, Furet du Nord changes its commercial strategy.[13] On October 15, 2009, Furet launched its online sales site furet.com and began distributing books on the Web (more than a million books). In mid-September 2010, the eleventh library opens its doors to the Englos-les-Géants shopping centre.[14] In June 2011, a new boutique opened in Cité Europe in Coquelles, near Calais.[15] At the end of October 2011, the bookseller moved into the La Vache-Noire shopping centre, in Arcueil, south of Paris. This was the first store outside the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region.[16] The brand continued its expansion in the shopping centres of Île-de-France by settling in that of Le Kremlin-Bicêtre, named Okabé, October 16, 2012.[17][18] In 2013, the brand returned to Dunkerque, after having left in 2000. It replaced the Virgin Megastore after it went into liquidation.

On July 19, 2017, the Montpellier tribunal de commerce preferred the offer of François Fontès, head of Amétis, a real estate group specializing in social housing, over the offer of Furet du Nord for the purchase of the Sauramps bookstore in Montpellier.[19]

In 2018, the brand extended abroad by buying Chapitre.be (formerly Agora) which has two stores in Belgium.[20]

In November and December 2018, Furet du Nord announces the acquisition of Decitre, allowing access to the Rhône-Alpes region, in addition to an increased presence on the Internet.[21] This acquisition was formalized on January 18, 2019. Furet du Nord thus became the fourth largest bookseller in France. The group achieved a turnover of €82 million in 2018, of which €52 million is in the book market.[22]

Location of Furet du Nord stores

As of March 2018, the company has twenty stores, including thirteen in Hauts-de-France, five in Île-de-France and two in Belgium.

Shop on the Place de la Général-de-Gaulle in Lille

Furet du Nord on the Grand'Place, Lille

Since 1 August 1959, Furet du Nord has been located on the Place du Général-de-Gaulle, also called Grand'Place, in the city of Lille.[8]

In 1969, the facade was modified to remove 19th-century additions in order to restore it in its original style of the 18th century. The façade is inspired by the painting of François Watteau, La Procession de Lille en 1789.[9]

Over the years, the store has grown from 200 m2 to 8,000 m2. When the company first moved to the Grand'Place at the location of Galeries Barbès, the sales area was 200 m2. At the end of the year, it increased to 600 m2, when the old workshops of the Galeries Barbès were removed.[8] At that time the Lille store occupied only the ground floor. In 1976, Furet du Nord moved to the place of the Cinema Le Bellevue and expanded to 4,500 m2, then in 1991 instead of the Hotel Strasbourg and passes to 8,000 m2.[9]

In 1974 and 1998, the store received 10,000 daily visits.[23][24] It is served by the Rihour Metro station.

Open stores

City Address Opening year
Arcueil La Vache Noire Shopping Centre 2011[11]
Arras Rue Gambetta 1989[25]
Beauvais Le Jeu de Paume Shopping Centre 2015
Béthune Place Georges-Clemenceau 1992[25]
Cambrai Mail Saint Martin 1991[25]
Coquelles Cité Europe Shopping Centre 2011[13]
Douai Rue de la Mairie 2019
Dunkirk Pôle Marine 2013[26]
Englos Boulevard du Commerce (Englos-les-Géants) 2010[27][28]
Lens Boulevard Basly 1986[25]
Lieusaint Carré Sénart Shopping Center 2013[29]
Lille Grand Place 1959 [8]
Louvain-la-Neuve Place Agora 2018 (Acquisition)[20]
Louvroil Aushopping Val de Sambre Shopping Centre 2018[30]
Montigny-le-Bretonneux Sqy Ouest Shopping Centre 2017[31]
Namur Rue Émile Cuvelier 2018 (Acquisition)[20]
Roubaix Grand Rue 2005[15]
Tremblay-en-France Aéroville Shopping Centre 2013[29]
Valenciennes Rue du Quesnoy 1982[25]
Villeneuve-d'Ascq Boulevard Valmy (V2 Shopping Centre) 1991[25]

Old stores

City Address Opening year Closing year
Lille Rue de la Vieille-Comédie 1936 1959
Boulogne-sur-Mer Grand Rue 1990[25] 2008
Douai Rue de la Madeleine 1988[25]
Dunkirk Place de la République 1994[25] 2000[26]
Le Kremlin-Bicêtre Okabé Shopping Center, Avenue de Fontainebleau 2012[18] 2016
Maubeuge Avenue Jean-Mabuse 1983[25] 2013[32]
Tourcoing Grand Rue 1984[25]
Saint-Quentin Avenue de la Source de la Brièvre 1990[25] 2008[33]

References

  1. ^ "Le " Furet du Nord " plus grande librairie du monde" ["Furet du Nord" is the largest bookstore in the world]. lesechos.fr (in French). 28 April 1992. Retrieved 4 September 2016..
  2. ^ "La plus grande librairie d'Europe, Le Furet du Nord, est à Lille, sur la Grand-Place" [The largest bookshop in Europe, Le Furet du Nord, is in Lille, on the Grand-Place]. www.archivesdunord.com (in French). 2014.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Élodie Lécadieu (2010). "Paul Callens a créé un endroit emblématique où Furet(er)" [Paul Callens created an emblematic place at Furet]. La Voix Éco (in French). Retrieved 5 August 2010.
  4. ^ Feller 1974, p. 95
  5. ^ a b c d Boucher 2012, p. 42
  6. ^ Feller 1974, p. 96
  7. ^ Feller 1974, pp. 96–97
  8. ^ a b c d e Feller 1974, p. 97
  9. ^ a b c Boucher 2012, p. 43
  10. ^ Sorel & Leblanc 2008, p. 287.
  11. ^ a b Boucher 2012, p. 45
  12. ^ "Livres Hebdo". 30 July 2008.
  13. ^ a b "Le Furet du Nord s'aventure à Arcueil" [Furet du Nord ventures to Arcueil]. leparisien.fr (in French). August 2011. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
  14. ^ "Librairie Le Furet du Nord à Englos" [Bookstore Furet du Nord in Englos]. Éditions Luigi Castelli (in French). Retrieved 29 August 2010.
  15. ^ a b François Lecocq (2010). "Le Furet du Nord se rénove en abordant les galeries marchandes" [Furet du Nord is revitalised by approaching the shopping malls]. LSA (in French). Retrieved 9 July 2011.
  16. ^ J.-M. P. (2011). "Le Furet du Nord sort de la région pour la première fois" [Furet du Nord comes out of the region for the first time]. La Voix Éco (in French). Retrieved 24 August 2011..
  17. ^ "Librairie Le Furet du Nord au Kremlin Bicêtre - HORAIRES". Éditions Luigi Castelli. Retrieved 14 February 2013..
  18. ^ a b Cécile Mazin (2012). "Le Furet du Nord: une nouvelle librairie à Kremlin-Bicêtre" [Furet du Nord: a new bookshop in Kremlin-Bicêtre]. ActuaLitté (in French). Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  19. ^ "Cour d'appel : le Furet du Nord perd les librairies Sauramps" [Court of Appeal: Furet du Nord loses Sauramps bookstores] (in French). Retrieved 20 July 2017.
  20. ^ a b c "Le Furet du Nord ouvrira demain ses portes à Namur et Louvain-la-Neuve" [Furet du Nord will open tomorrow in Namur and Louvain-la-Neuve]. RTBF Info (in French). 1 March 2018.
  21. ^ Justin Boche (27 December 2018). "Lyon: le rachat de Decitre autorisé par l'État" [Lyon: Government authorises acquisition of Decitre]. Lyon Capitale (in French).
  22. ^ "Le Furet du Nord rachète les librairies Decitre" [Furet du Nord buys Decitre bookstores]. Challenges (in French). 18 January 2019. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
  23. ^ Feller 1974, p. 101
  24. ^ Chaumard 1998, p. 191
  25. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Chaumard 1998, p. 192
  26. ^ a b "Dunkerque: Le Furet arrive en novembre au pôle Marine, mais n'ouvrira pas le dimanche" [Dunkirk: Furet arrives in November at Pôle Marine, but will not open on Sundays]. lepharedunkerquois.fr (in French). October 2013. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  27. ^ "Furet du Nord : un nouveau concept à Auchan Englos en 2010?" [Furet du Nord: a new concept at Auchan Englos in 2010?]. La Voix du Nord (in French). 2009. Retrieved 9 March 2010.
  28. ^ Sylvie Lavabre (2009). "Furet du Nord lance son site internet" [Furet du Nord launches its website]. LSA (in French). Retrieved 9 March 2010.
  29. ^ a b "Deux nouveaux Furet du Nord en Ile-de-France" [Two new Furet du Nord in Ile-de-France]. lsa-conso.fr (in French). March 2013. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  30. ^ "Louvroil - Le furet du nord fera son retour dans la val de sambre au mois de novembre" [Louvroil: Furet du Nord will return to the Val de Sambre in November]. Canal FM (in French). Retrieved 16 August 2019.
  31. ^ "Montigny-le-Bretonneux: l'arrivée du Furet du Nord relance SQY Ouest" [Montigny-le-Bretonneux: the arrival of Furet du Nord raises SQY West]. Le Parisien (in French). 18 October 2017.
  32. ^ Cathy Gerig. "Après Dunkerque, Boulogne et Tourcoing, Le Furet du Nord quitte Maubeuge fin avril" [After Dunkirk, Boulogne and Tourcoing, Furet du Nord will leave Maubeuge in late April]. La Voix du Nord (in French). Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  33. ^ "Cinquante ans après son ouverture, le Furet du Nord fait toujours fureur" [Fifty years after opening, Furet du Nord is still all the rage]. tourcoing.maville.com (in French). 2009. Retrieved 4 March 2014.

Bibliography

External links


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