A revenge on history? Faced with Gifi's descent into hell, Centrakor's winning recipe to stay in the discount race
Less known than Gifi, placed in receivership this Tuesday, November 3, the low-cost decoration brand Centrakor is thriving thanks to its purchasing center and an agile network. She wants to become a market leader.
While the Gifi brand was placed in receivership this Tuesday, November 3, at the headquarters of its rival Centrakor, management has maintained complete silence in the face of this debacle. Despite some 500 stores, 6,000 employees, the efforts of five managers in twenty months – Patrick Puy, champion of turnarounds, was called to his bedside on October 12 – the leader of Villeneuve-sur-Lot (Lot-et-Garonne) is no longer up to the task. In 2025, it would have lost 100 million euros for 1 billion euros in sales. Much less known than the “genius ideas” brand, the Toulouse group of decoration and low-cost equipment is holding on.
Its strength lies above all in its network made up of around a hundred directly owned stores and some 370 franchisees. “This mix makes it more agile and its purchasing center gives it the ability to negotiate volumes at the best price,” points out Olivier Salomon, partner at AlixPartners. The integrated stores test new products and the members act as “business leaders”, insists the CEO of Centrakor, Olivier Rondolotto. Enough to best manage stocks and orders for the classic Duvia stools at 19.99 euros or the Calathéa metal suspension, at 39.99 euros.
More than a billion euros in turnover in 2025
Added to this are the Centrakor & Moi application and its loyalty program (130,000 customers by the end of 2025), the Bacci beauty brand targeting Gen Z and around fifteen openings this year. Enough to justify its slogan: “Centrakor, much more than decoration!” » For Olivier Salomon, “the partnership with the JJA Group, a powerful supplier of trendy decoration and furnishings, is the other trump card”. This allows the king of the bazaar to stick to the tastes of his customers and keep his prices low.
Who is Philippe Ginestet, the deposed king of Gifi?
Olivier Rondolotto, 53, was not destined for the bazaar. With his culinary qualification in hand, he began by sourcing products in Asia for the wholesaler Europe Import before joining Centrakor and its founders Aimery Forzy and Jean-Philippe Bourgela in 2004. At the time, their purchasing center was struggling. Today, it is the driving force behind Cargo, a still independent conglomerate created in 1994 which also includes C’est deux euros, Gers Équipement, Yliades and Merch & Cie. Last year with some 2,800 employees, the group achieved a consolidated turnover of 567 million euros and more than 1 billion when including Centrakor members.
Having become CEO of the brand and general manager of Cargo, Olivier Rondolotto managed to grow the group (Malin Plaisir, Michigan, Fly, etc.) without cannibalizing the network and by holding prices against Action, the Chinese platforms Temu and AliExpress and players lying in wait on the ground like La Foir’Fouille, B & M or Maxi Bazar.
Machine-translated from French
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