Tati Barbès: the End of an Empire

The legacy of Jules Ouaki will not have survived the coronavirus pandemic despite the takeover of many of its stores throughout France.

The Barbès store, which was the first to be installed by the founder in a working-class district in the north of the capital, remained the group’s last property under the vichy rose brand.

Landed in Paris at the Liberation with the French Forces, Jules Ouaki settled in 1948 with his family in the 18th arrondissement. Having grown up in Tunis, this son of a Jewish saddler had a difficult start, selling his goods on the sidewalk in a large umbrella turned open. After a while, he bought his first store with the money he had acquired and the providential help of a mysterious woman. He began by buying a password hotel which he transformed into a souk to resell stocks at low prices. He decides to give the sign the name « Tita », the nickname of his mother but this name being taken, by another trader, he decided to use the name in verlan, that is « Tati », thus avoiding a lawsuit . Thus begins a new style of commerce based on the lowest prices halfway between the braderie, the thrift store and the bazaar and especially adapted to the budgets of modest families. Faced with the growing success of his business, he expanded by buying neighboring pass hotels to reach 2800 m² of sales area in 1978, thereby eradicating prostitution in this part of the district.

The « revolutionary » concept offers a new form of democratized boutique with free entry (without ringing) in which items, mostly from Asia (China, India, Bangladesh, Vietnam …) but also from the Sentier district (75002) for textiles stamped « Parisian fashion » on cardboard labels showing the price in large figures. A whole range of products is offered to customers: clothing (men, women, children), household linen, shoes, always offered at the best price thanks to a supply acquired at wholesale or destocking prices.

From 1978, the company developed first in other districts like rue de Rennes and place de la République, the system of sale in containers and the notoriety attracting an easier clientele. Other cities in France follow, including Nancy, Lille, Rouen, then Marseille and Lyon.

Unfortunately, Jules Ouaki died in 1982, at the age of 62. His widow succeeds him before appointing in 1991, the youngest of his 5 children, Fabien Ouaki, at the head of the empire but the company knows a difficult period following the death of the eldest son and the attack in the street Rennes in 1986 resulting in a large loss of customers.

In 1991, Fabien Ouaki bought the family shares and developed a new strategy by opening specialized brands: « Tati Gold », « Tati Mariage », « Tati Vacances », « Tati Optic », « Tati Phone » or « Tati Bonbons », as well as an ephemeral collection created by Azzedine Alaïa with the houndstooth motif and Naomi Campbell for the fashion show. In 1993, the chic trendy ready-to-wear line, « La rue est à nous », was launched but will be abandoned for 2 years due to too high prices.

From 1994, the group established itself in Europe and abroad: South Africa in 1996 and the United States, on 5th Avenue in New York, in 1998 where he opened a store of wedding dresses Tati Mariage (representing 20% ​​of Tati’s turnover) by partnering with Ilyse Wilpon, the daughter of a real estate tycoon. This latest initiative and the diversification of the universes will unfortunately contribute to the fall in the group’s turnover taking into account the growing competing brands like Babou, H&M, and Zara. Following these disappointments, the company is cessation of payment, Fabien Ouaki, refusing a plan is then forced to sell the company in July 2014, to clear the colossal debt (50 million debts, the brand losing forty thousand euros per day) .

The brand was then bought for 10 million euros, plus 4.5 million of inventory, by the Ventura group (Fabio Lucci group), a 50% subsidiary of the Éram group. The company Tati Développement plans to open more than fifteen stores in France and plans to open in the Maghreb countries and in Eastern Europe, including Romania. In 2007, the Éram group took over Tati 100%, abandoning certain sectors, destocking of unattractive products and returning to creation, 80% ready-to-wear imagined by in-house designers. Despite this, the brand is waning and decides to open a website offering more than 7,000 references (15,000 in 2011, 80% of which cost less than € 10) in addition to the 80 points of sale in France.

Change of strategy in 2013 when we see the opening of XXL stores (discount but with a new presentation in shelving instead of trays) in addition to the 129 points of sale. The range is halved but of better quality, targeting 75% of the population instead of 25% at the front. After a rebound, the brand is falling again following the attacks of 2015 which led the Eram group to sell its subsidiary Agora (Tati, Giga Store, Degrif’Mania and Fabio Lucci). After termination of payment and possible judicial recovery, the Bobigny Commercial Court, in June 2017, appointed the Gifi Group as the taker of the sign, saving 1,428 jobs out of the 1,700 threatened, retaining 109 of the 140 stores for at least 2 years as promised by Philippe Ginestet. Despite the investment of 150 million euros, the recovery is difficult and the Gifi Group announces in July 2019 that by 2020 Tati stores will be moved under its name, with the exception of that of Barbès, 13 more will be closed and about thirty for a new demolition store, KLO but almost a quarter of the size The number of people will lose their jobs.

The only remaining store, Tati Barbès, pioneer of the adventure, unfortunately lost 60% of its sales between October 2019 and May 2020 compared to the previous year, which is why the management announced in July 2020 the closure of the store and the dismissal of the remaining 34 employees.

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VERONIQUE YANG

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