Fnac is a large French retail chain selling cultural and electronic
products, founded by André Essel and Max Théret in 1954. Its head office is in Le
Flavia in Ivry-sur-Seine near Paris. Fnac is an abbreviation of Fédération
Nationale d’Achats des Cadres. Core values
The company's founders, André Essel and Max Théret were both part of France's
Young Socialist movement. Fnac was founded in 1954.
Fnac holds "forums" throughout the year, which are opportunities for customers to
have dialogue with people such as Pedro Almodóvar, George Lucas, and David
Cronenberg, discussions with authors including Paul Auster, Pierre Bourdieu,
and Françoise Giroud in addition to concerts. Musicians playing in these
concerts have included Yann Tiersen, Ben Harper, Keane and David Bowie.
Each year a "Book Fair" is held with discussions among writers, politicians
and the public. Topics related to literature, culture, society and the
sciences are discussed. Since 2001 the company has also annually presented an
award, Le prix du roman Fnac, whose winners are chosen by a panel of
booksellers and members. Dominique Mainard, Pierre Charras and Pierre Péju
are among those who have won. These events are shown on the company website
fnaclive.com. The company claims to be committed to
defending the diversity of music. In February 2002 Fnac published with UPFI
"Manifeste pour la diversité musicale", as a prelude to a policy of favorable
treatment for independent labels and their artists. Fnac publishes
"Indétendances," a compilation of ten artists bimonthly published by
independent labels, which it set aside part of its listening kiosks in stores
to promote their work. History
Fnac was founded in 1954 as a members-only discount buyers' club by
André Essel and Max Théret. The objective of the company for the two
founders would be to serve both the commercial and consumer industries,
offering discounted equipment through a magazine titled Contact. The first shop
was opened in a sublet, a second-floor apartment on the rue de Sebastopol in
Paris on July 31, 1954. The brand positioning of the company
continued with the training of sales assistants in their product categories,
with purchases being guaranteed for one year. Furthermore, all products were
tested in the company's independent test centre before sale. The test centre
would check for technical quality, ease of use, price and the "price/quality
ratio," and all results were published in the company's free members' magazine
Contact, which today can also be found advertised in store. In addition, staff
were expected to do more than just sell their products but offer advice to
customers and beginning in 1957 blacklist any unsatisfactory products,
such as those with technical difficulties. By the end of its first
full year of operation the company saw revenues of 50 million old francs. In
1957, it was selling televisions, hi-fis, recording equipment, radios and
records. = 1960s and 1970s=
In 1966, the Fnac store was opened to non-members and began to expand, opening
its second store, also in Paris on the avenue de Wagram, near the Arc de
Triomphe in 1969. By this time, the company had 580 employees.
The 1970s saw further expansion for Fnac, as the company began opening shops
in the French provinces outside Paris and a third in the city itself that sold
books, the newest addition to the product range. The founders of the
company sold 40 percent of the company to insurance firm Union des Assurances
to raise money to fund growth. In turn, the insurance firm sold 16 percent of
its shares to investment bank Banque de Paris et des Pays Bas, in 1972. During
this period, the company's sales were worth an estimated $70 million,
generating net profits of $2.2 million, translating to 4 percent of all record
sales in the French market, eight percent of sound equipment sales and ten
percent of photo equipment sales. In 1974, the company began selling books
at 80% of the RRP, which sparked protests from publishers, writers and
independent booksellers alike, who could not benefit from the economies of scale.
This prompted government action in 1982 with the so-called 'anti-Fnac' law, that
was signed to limit discounts on books to a maximum of five percent. In 1975,
videos were added to the product range. Towards the late 1970s, Fnac continued
to expand by building to 12 stores in Paris and other cities through France.
In 1977, the remaining shares of the company's founders were sold to the
Société Génerale des Cooperatives de Consommation to raise more capital.
= 1980s and 1990s= FNAC became a Public limited company on
the Paris stock exchange in 1980 when 25 percent of the company was offered to
the public. SGCC, however, maintained a 51 percent control of the company, which
now employed more than 2,700 and was declaring turnover of FFr 2.2 billion.
In 1981, FNAC opened a store in Brussels, Belgium under the management
of Sodal, a joint-venture between FNAC and the GIB Group. The GIB Group later
added three more stores in the mid-1980s, in Ghent, Antwerp, and Liège.
In 1983, André Essel retired and was replaced by the then SGCC president
Roger Kerinec. In 1985, SGCC sold its shares to the
insurance group Garantie Mutuelle des Fonctionnaires due to growing
competition from the French hypermarket and discount chains such as Carrefour
and E.Leclerc. Michel Barouin, GMF's president and director general, took
these positions at FNAC as well. In 1987, Barouin disappeared in an airplane
accident and Jean-Louis Petriat was named to lead both GMF and FNAC.
In 1988, the first Virgin Megastore opened in Paris. Petriat announced a FFr
1.5 billion plan to add 15 new stores to the 31-store chain and double the
company's gross revenues, in order to compete with the new entrant to the
French market. Petriat also had plans to expand into the German market. By this
point, sales of compact discs and other recordings had joined books as the
company's most important sources of revenue. Fnac now has 20% of the
recordings market, making it the largest retailer in the country.
During the late 1980s, Petriat added a music distribution division following
the purchase of Wotre Music Distribution. In January 1991, Fnac
Music was formed. Petriat hoped to build the first French multinational record
company, with plans to capture as much as five percent of the market.
The 1990s brought fierce competition after the arrival of HMV and Virgin
Megastores in 1988 as well as the strength of hypermarkets. The company
responded by cutting its prices and stepping up the competition, which
forced HMV to leave France after only six months. Virgin Megastores remained
in the French market, and decided to open two more stores in addition to its
original store in Paris. In response to the megastore, as seen to the right,
Fnac spent around $23 million to build its own megastore, at 32,000 square
metres, more than twice the size of the Virgin megastore, which became known as
"the Cathedral". In 1991, the first Fnac store was opened
in Berlin continuing with Petriat's plans, this was close to the original
Virgin megastore, which opened there only a few months earlier.
In 1992, the fate of FNAC Librairie Internationale, featuring books in
languages other than French, was sealed and closed after only a year of trading.
This store was converted to a computer products-only concept, called FNAC
Micro, which proved more successful. In 1993, the first Fnac store was opened
in Madrid, Spain. However, the FNAC Music subsidiary, while posting some
successes, failed to live up to the company's expectations and was unable to
gain more than a two percent market share and was eventually sold off the
distribution arm WMD, which shut down FNAC Music in 1994.
Despite some failures, the company revealed growing revenues though
shrinking profits in the early 1990s, also attributed to the recession in the
French economy. In 1991 the company recorded gross sales of FFr 7.4 billion,
while profits fell approximately FFr 55 million, to FFr 159.5 million. The
following year, despite a rise in revenues to FFr 8.9 billion, the
company's net income dropped to FFr 31.9 million.
The falling profits for Fnac was a similar situation to the parent company,
GMF whose share count totalled more than 80 percent. To raise more capital, GMF
agreed to sell its shares of FNAC in July 1993 to Altus Finances, a
subsidiary of government-owned Crédit Lyonnais, and Phenix, a property group
owned by French waterworks company Générale des Eaux, for FFr 2.4 billion.
The deal came under scrutiny by the Commission des opérations de bourse
though was allowed to proceed in September 1993. Crédit Lyonnais became
the majority shareholder, with 64 percent of shares, while Générale des
Eaux held 34 percent. The remaining two percent of shares continued to be
publicly owned. In 1994, Crédit Lyonnais announced it
was going to sell its 64 percent share of the company as part of a FFr 20
billion asset-reduction plan. In July 1994, the Altus Finances subsidiary
agreed to sell the majority stake in FNAC for FFr 1.9 billion to François
Pinault, the largest shareholder in and architect of Pinault-Printemps-Redoute.
Since 1994, PPR or Pinault-Printemps-Redoute has been the
majority shareholder of Fnac and the company was led by François-Henri
Pinault, son of the parent company's head François Pinault. The new ownership
saw the closure of the WMD and FNAC Music subsidiaries and instead
concentrated on further expansion of its retail chain. In 1995, the company added
its 45th French store, while a second Spanish store, in Barcelona was opened
in 1996. In 1995, the Fnac store was closed in Berlin and the company instead
continued its international expansion in Belgium, which were now becoming
profitable. In October 1996, the new parent company
assumed full control of the Belgian affiliate and announced plans to double
the number of stores in Belgium that began with the opening of a fifth store
in 1997. In March 1996, François-Henri, was named chairman of Fnac and opened
two stores in France. At this point, Fnac had revenues passing FFr 10 billion
and net earnings of FFr 200 million. In 1999, the first Fnac store outside
Europe was opened in São Paulo. = 2000s=
In 2013, Kering spun off Fnac as an independent company.
Operations As of 2015, the company has stores in
France, Belgium, Brazil, Monaco, Morocco, Portugal, Spain and
Switzerland. = Belgium=
Fnac operates 9 stores in Belgium. = Brazil=
There are 12 FNAC stores in Brazil, including: Pinheiros, Barra Shopping,
Shopping Dom Pedro, Paulista, Shopping Barigui, Parkshopping, Morumbi Shopping,
Barra Shopping Sul, Ribeirão Shopping, BH Shopping, and Flamboyant Shopping, .
The headquarters is located in São Paulo.
= Italy= In 2013 FNAC sold all stores to Italian
Trony. It no longer operates there. = Spain=
There are 25 FNAC stores in Spain, including: Plaza Callao, L'illa, San
Agustín, Triangle, Coso, Bulevar, Parque Principado, Diagonal Mar, La Cañada,
Plaza, Plaza Norte, ParqueSur, Donostia, Nueva Condomina, Bilbao, Ave. de La
Constitución, Praza de Lugo, Málaga Plaza, Plaza Imperial, La Gavia, and
Paseo de la Castellana. The headquarters is located in Pozuelo de Alarcón,
Madrid. = Switzerland=
As of 2009, there are four Fnac stores in Switzerland, two in Geneva, the third
in Lausanne and the fourth in Fribourg. = Monaco=
Fnac operates a single store in Monaco, in the Métropole shopping centre.
= Morocco= In 2011, Fnac opened its first store in
Africa, located in Morocco Mall, Casablanca, Morocco.
= Portugal= There are 22 FNAC stores in Portugal,
including: Colombo, NorteShopping, Chiado, CascaiShopping, Oeiras Parque,
Santa Catarina, Almada, GaiaShopping, AlgarveShopping, Forum Coimbra,
MadeiraShopping, Braga Parque, Alegro, Palácio do Gelo, MarShopping-IKEA, Vasco
da Gama, GuimarãeShopping, LeiriaShopping, Lisbon Airport and
Amoreiras Shopping. Also a website, which was the most popular commercial
website in Portugal in 2007. Loyalty programme
Fnac operates a loyalty programme offering points that are awarded each
time the card is presented at the till-point, for each euro spent. A
membership fee applies. For every 4,000 points earned, a gift card worth €10 is
issued to the card holder. As of 2008, the programme has 1.8 million members,
with the loyalty card also serving as a credit card. As of 2008, there are two
versions of the card, a one-year membership card or alternatively a
three-year membership card. The membership card offers a 5% discount on
hardware, books and various monthly offers.
Product range Fnac stores stock a range of products
from audio, books, CDs, computer software and hardware, DVDs, televisions
and video games. Some stores also operate services of photography and
ticket sales. The company also offers a selection of more expensive consumer
products positioning themselves above discount retailers.
Future In 2008, Fnac opened 10 new stores
bringing their total locations, internationally, to 207 with 63 of those
outside of France. Head office
Fnac's head office is in Le Flavia in Ivry-sur-Seine, France. The 6 story
building was designed by Jean-Claude Besseau and has 16,400 square metres of
space. The building is a part of the Ivry Port project.
Previously the company head office was located in Clichy-la-Garenne,
Hauts-de-Seine. Around 2006 there were rumors stating that Fnac would move to
Wissous. In 2008 the head office moved to Ivry-sur-Seine. The subsidiary
Fnac.com moved from Aubervilliers to Ivry during the same year.
In popular culture The story of the 2005 Spanish thriller
Mar rojo, starring Maribel Verdú, begins with an armed robbery at a Fnac store in
Barcelona. See also
Dixons - competitor Media Markt - competitor
PPR - parent company References
International Directory of Company Histories, Vol. 21. St. James Press,
1998. External links
French Fnac website Belgian Fnac website
Brazilian Fnac website Italian Fnac website
Portuguese Fnac website Spanish Fnac website
Swiss Fnac website