Micromania-Zing continues the bad news. Nothing has been going well for the brand for several months, which reveals in an internal document that it is preparing to close 47 stores in France, separating at the same time from 127 employees. The brand seems to have a lot of difficulty coping with the growing popularity of dematerialized sales.
Update 07/02/2022 – 3:44 p.m.
After publishing our article, Micromania-Zing wished to exercise its right of reply. The company also stresses that the 127 employees affected by the closure of the stores will not be made redundant but will each benefit from contractual termination. Here is the message sent in its entirety:
“In order to support changes in the video game market, Micromania must adapt its economic model.
In this context, the company questioned the size of its store network, particularly in areas where Micromania already has a sufficient, even dense, network. At the end of this analysis, 47 stores, out of a fleet of 400 stores, were identified by Micromania as being likely to be subject to imminent closure with regard to a certain number of criteria.
To structure this new organization, Micromania has chosen to exclude the use of forced departures and any Job Safeguard Plan consistent with its DNA, its social policy and the existing social dialogue within the company.
Thus, a Collective Contractual Termination agreement was negotiated with the trade unions, then signed on September 27, 2021 between the Management and the CFDT, CGT and CFE-CGC organizations. The purpose of this agreement is to regulate the voluntary departures of 127 employees, who will be supported by the company as part of the implementation of their professional retraining project.
This agreement, perceived favorably by all the employees concerned, therefore allows the company to adapt its store network without resorting to forced departures.”a
Article from 07/02/2022 – 2:12 p.m.
Long mocked on social networks for its sometimes abusive recovery policy, Micromania-Zing has been sailing for several months now in troubled waters. We could date the start of the troubles to the release of the PS5 and the Xbox Series X, a period when the brand got tangled up – to use a euphemism – in the face of the influx of requests. However, it had made up for it with a fairly convincing offer of console rentals to cope with the shortage, but that was not enough to keep finances afloat.
Our colleagues from Gamekult have indeed obtained an edifying internal document on the financial situation of the brand. According to the forecasts, all the indicators seem to be red. To reverse the trend, the company is already planning to close 47 of the 399 stores present in France. If such a plan is implemented, it would result in the dismissal of 130 people. Micromania-Zing has yet to officially confirm the news. But everything suggests that the next few months will be bleak.
On the same subject: Micromania would soon offer 500 GB expansion cards at 155 € for the Xbox Series X and S
Micromania-Zing is struggling to regain its place in video games
If the arrival of the new generation of consoles was a blow for the brand, the beginning of the trouble is actually to be found several years back. The advent of Steam, followed by the Epic Games Store, prompted manufacturers to focus on their own online store, PlayStation Store on one side, Microsoft Store (and Xbox Game Pass) on the other. In other words, the sale of dematerialized games has exploded in recent years, reaching 62% of total sales and leaving stores like Micromania-Zing on the sidelines — not to mention the countless independent boutiques.
By joining forces with Zing, Micromania did try to raise the bar, but this strategy obviously proved to be a failure. To make matters worse, the firm was recently pinned by the courts for deceptive commercial practices in the case of abusive warranty extensions. Finally, let’s add the exponential development of cloud gaming services, which allow more and more players to enjoy the latest games without having a competition machine. Faced with so many threats, Micromania-Zing has a lot to worry about.
Source: gamekult
