Bricorama closes 13 stores in France

The French home improvement chain Bricorama is closing 13 stores because no franchisees could be found for them. ITM Équipement de la Maison, the home improvement division of the retail group Les Mousquetaires, acquired the 170 outlets of Bricorama in January 2018. Although 63 of these were already operated as franchises, the plan was to find independent operators to take over the 107 centrally run stores also. In the case of 13 stores, the company has failed to find franchisees for financial reasons. They are therefore to be closed. In line with cartel regulations, five of the 107 stores were relinquished to rival firms.