Monaco’s Habitat closed suddenly on the last day of November with many customer orders unfulfilled and employees in a precarious position just weeks before Christmas.
The reason cited for the closure in Monaco was unpaid rent to the Mairie. In France, Habitat outlets in France all closed a little later, in the last week of December
In Monaco it seems very likely that customers will never see the deposits or payments they made, while the situation for the store’s employees is dire.
“The law here (in Monaco) differs from French law. The declaration of bankruptcy was not made by Thierry Le Guénic (owner of 25 Habitat outlets in France) in the Principality. The court cannot therefore take up the situation in Monaco on its own. My colleagues have no information , not even a letter or an email from the boss. Internally, we do not know how to organise ourselves so that our colleagues in the Principality can be paid, or at least made redundant. Since the steps have not been taken. is a very serious situation […] My heart is bleeding”, union representative Ratiba Hammache told local French-language daily Monaco Matin.
The staff in the store opposite Saint Charles church say they were encouraged by the management to keep selling to clients during November, despite knowing that the Town Hall had taken measures to repossess the premises.
