Marie Claire is much more than a sock, underwear and swimsuit factory. This is the Ford of Els PortsAn area in the interior of Castellón, with a population of just over 7,000, whose fate has always been tied to the fate of an internationally renowned factory that has been experiencing its worst moments for several months. And the company he founded in 1907 Francisca InigoLa Fabricanta, as it is nicknamed, has survived a civil war, two world wars and even the historic snowfall of 1954. However, the factory, which boasted for years of being Europe’s first pantyhose factory, succumbed to competition, increasing costs and new developments. consumer habits.
The historic textile company, headquartered in Vilafranca, laid off 70% of its workforce in June, had almost zero activity for more than a year, and has been in bankruptcy proceedings since September. Only a miracle in the form of an investment group could reinvent the brand and sustain minimal activity, providing some oxygen to a region suffering from depopulation and today with no other industrial alternative.
Three production lines
Although almost no one cared about the future of Marie Claire until a few days ago (after the incident that affected 190 workers, the company implemented a three-month deferment for 105 workers and this file was extended until the beginning of 2024), things may start to change. And it will be for the best. The bankruptcy administrator is meeting with various groups that want to be part of the textile company and assures them that sooner or later there will be surprises. “There are companies with new ideas that want to be part of the project, and it is likely that some of these initiatives will come to fruition and we will find a solution,” he said recently. Jordi CasserrasThe lawyer responsible for the management of the bankrupt firm.
One of the unknowns is how he will return his debt to creditors, especially the 21 million public aid.
Marie Claire continues to cling to one last investment rationale to save it from certain closure, and everything indicates that the company’s future will involve maintaining only three production lines (medical socks, compression socks and race-stopping tights) at the Vilafranca factory. Between 40 and 50 people are employed. The rest of the catalog (pajamas, underwear and swimwear) will be made Outside Spain, possibly in Asiawhere costs are much lower.
The textile company is holding on to the last cartridge that will keep the curtains down, but there are still unknowns to solve. One of these is how and under what conditions it will return its debt to creditors, especially the 21 million euro loan with advantageous conditions given by the Valencian Finance Institute (IVF) in return for continuing its operations in 2020 and 2021. and employment. A debt that the public bank of the Generalitat Valenciana always shows open to renegotiationbut without thinking of removing it.
It seems that the fate of Marie Claire is still unwritten, but it is no secret to anyone that it will not be the same as in the 80s, when the company employed more than 900 people and Vilafranca had buses constantly coming and going. It was carrying workers from all over the Ports of Els and the Maestrazgo district of Teruel.
golden season
Although the 60s and 80s of the last century reached the golden age of Marie Claire, the origins of the company should be sought in 1907. That year, Francisca Íñigo proposed to her husband Celestino Aznar to invest his profits as a company. mule and mare trader who started a new business: a small hosiery factory named after himself Eugenia de Montijo UnderwearIn honor of Napoleon III’s wife and empress of France. Orders gradually increased in the factory, which started to employ 15 people. Key? Very competitive quality and prices.
With Covid, it tried to reinvent itself and focused on health gowns and masks, but it was not enough
The Civil War and the early years of the post-war period were the grave of many companies in the region, but Fabricanta managed to persevere and, thanks to a huge amount of imagination and, above all, innovation, they entered a period of great growth. . . With the third generation already at the helm (Celestino died in 1933 and Francisca remained until her mid-40s), this hosiery factory experienced its special revolution in the 50s and 60s. And it achieved this thanks to the addition of first nylon (a much more durable and soft product) and then lycra.
Aznar company became the first company to produce socks with much more modern materials and took advantage of the miniskirt boom, rapidly increasing the demand for pantyhose. New times and new name. She left Eugenia de Montijo behind to become Marie Claire. So why don’t you also produce men’s clothing? This is how Kler socks were born.
The factory grew bigger and bigger (a strong advertising campaign on television and magazines with slogans such as “panties for every woman” was decisive), and in the 70s it was decided to move part of the activity to the city of Castelló. He remained in Vilafranca. It was the peak period; They became the most important socks company in Europe, started to open their own stores, and signed agreements with important chains such as El Corte Inglés.
Spain’s entry into the European Union and the need to have capital to face increasing competition, in the 80s Aznar Selling Marie Claire to British conglomerate harston. Years later, the former owners bought back part of the company.
International expansion came in the 90s. Marie Claire at the time It employed approximately 1,000 people and produced 72 million to 24 million socks annually., stepped into the swimwear and underwear industry by opening offices in various capitals of Europe. That small factory in Vilafranca had turned into an empire. Until it came downhill. The decline began at the turn of the millennium. Competition in Asia was already unstoppable, and the 2008 crisis made the situation even worse. In 2010, when the Aznar family was no longer on the board, Marie Claire announced the layoffs of 225 workers.
This was just the beginning. More efforts followed and a drastic reduction in production, and if the company made progress it was thanks to public aid and, in 2018, Dr. This happened thanks to Scholl signing a contract with the multinational Reckitt & Benckiser, for which he owned and produced socks. Compression. This contract ended and the company continued its path towards the abyss.
I’m waiting for a miracle
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With the pandemic, he tried to reinvent himself and directed his business to produce masks and gowns for healthcare workers. It was not enough. The decline in consumption and increase in costs during Covid did the rest. Until B2Tex came on the scene, there was a company that focused on logistics for the textile industry and had customers such as Inditex in 2021. Took control of Marie ClaireWith an operation supported by Generalitat Valenciana that put 21 million on the table.
The new management made significant adjustments, but neither the strategic plan based on increasing sales abroad and promoting the online channel nor public money served to revive a company and a region that continued to rely on a miracle that would allow them to resume production. is reluctant.