In the early 1960s, Pierre and Guy Sordoillet, Jean Moll and Jacques Ragageot, supported by furniture dealers in the North and a Bordeaux manufacturer, Charles Minvielle, created a "Carrefour of furniture" by testing a discount formula in the outbuildings of an old farm in the suburbs of Lyon. In 1967, the first Conforama was opened in Saint-Priest, Rhône in a 2,500-square-metre industrial building.
In 1976, Conforama was acquired by Agache-Willot.
In 1981, the financial holding company experienced serious legal difficulties, and in 1991, Conforama was acquired by Pinault SA. Conforama set up its first commercial website in 1998.[2]
A Conforama store in Wallisellen, Switzerland in April 2012
In March 2016, Darty announced it had agreed to be purchased by Steinhoff for £673million, through Conforama subsidiary.[5][6]Fnac returned with a higher offer, resulting in a bidding war between Fnac and Conforama during April 2016.[7] On 26 April, Conforama announced that it had dropped out in the battle for Darty.[8] The Fnac offer was declared unconditional on 19 July 2016, thereby allowing the takeover to be completed.[9] In September 2016, it was reported that Conforama and Casino had forged a supply purchase co-operation agreement.[10]
In April 2017, Conforama signed title sponsorship with France's Ligue 1. The deal, reportedly worth €10million a season, started in the 2017–18 season and ended on 2019–20.[11] The next month, Conforama announced that it would take a 17% stake in the French number two in online clearance retail site Showroomprivé.fr in the amount of €157.4million.[12] On 11 January 2018, this stake was urgently sold off on the orders of Steinhoff, which was suffering from its own accounting scandal. The proceeds of this sale to Carrefour amounted to €79m, a loss of 50%.[13]
Although the group had a net turnover of €3.4billion in 2018, according to the parent company, they have accumulated losses of nearly €500million ($564million) since 2013. To that end, and to address the challenges in the retail sector, the company announced the departure of Frank Deshayes, general manager France, on 9 July 2019.[14] A major restructuring plan for 2020 that was announced in July 2019, involved the closure of 32 stores – including the chain's flagship store in Pont Neuf – and the loss of 1,900 jobs.[15][16]
In late September 2019, Conforama named Marc Ténart as the new general manager of the group.[17] Marc Ténart had formerly headed Kingfisher, the holding company of Castorama.[18][19]
In July 2020, Austrian furniture retailer XXXLutz Group acquired the 162 French branches of Conforama, through its French subsidiary BUT.[20]
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Castorama is a French retailer of DIY and home improvement tools and supplies, headquartered in Templemars, France, and is part of the British group Kingfisher plc, which has 101 stores in France and 90 in Poland. The company became a subsidiary of Kingfisher plc in May 2002, along with Castorama's own subsidiary Brico Dépôt.
Fnac is a French multinational retail chain specializing in the sale of entertainment media and consumer electronics.
Kering is a French-based multinational corporation specializing in luxury goods. It owns the brands Gucci, Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, Yves Saint Laurent, Creed and Alexander McQueen.
Casino Group or Casino Guichard-Perrachon is a French mass-market retail group. It was founded on 2 August 1898 by Geoffroy Guichard under the corporate name Guichard-Perrachon & Co.
Groupe Fnac Darty, formerly Kesa Electricals plc, Darty plc and Darty Limited, is a multinational retail company headquartered in Ivry-sur-Seine, France. It was formerly a public limited company (PLC) listed on the London Stock Exchange, until it was merged with Fnac in 2016 and subsequently moved the listing to Euronext Paris.
François-Henri Pinault is a French businessman, the chairman and CEO of Kering since 2005, and president of Groupe Artémis since 2003. Under his leadership, the retail conglomerate PPR was transformed into the luxury fashion group Kering.
Match is a Belgian multinational chain of supermarkets owned by Louis Delhaize Group. As 2023, the supermarket chain is present with 77 supermarkets in Belgium, 115 in northeast France and 25 in Luxembourg. The network also includes Smatch supermarkets in Belgium and Luxembourg.
Franprix is a grocery store chain of the Groupe Casino, headquartered in Paris.
Alexandre Bompard is a French businessman. He became CEO of the retail chain Fnac in 2011. Since July 2017, he has also been chairman and CEO of Carrefour.
Carrefour City is a French chain of local convenience stores created in 2009 by the Carrefour Group with locations in five countries: France, Belgium, Spain, UAE and Israel.
Véronique Laury is a French businesswoman who was chief executive officer (CEO) of Kingfisher, a UK based retail group, from February 2015 to September 2019.
BUT is a French brand of retail stores specialized in home goods, including furniture, large and small appliances, and consumer electronics.
Steinhoff International was a multinational holding company that was dual listed in Germany and South Africa. It was officially liquidated on 13 October 2023. Its holdings were in the retail sector, primarily in furniture and household goods, and included a 43,8% stake in South Africa's Pepkor group. The company operated in Europe, Africa, Asia, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. It was well known for an accounting scandal which led to criminal charges against its former chief executive, Markus Jooste.
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Showroomprive.com is a French e-commerce company that specializes in online flash sales. Founded in 2006, the website offers daily exclusive sales in France and in 8 other European countries. As of 2016, the company has reached more than 26 million members.
Thierry Petit is a French entrepreneur, known as the co-founder and co-CEO of showroomprive.com, created in 2006. He is also the vice-President of France Digitale and a business angel engaged in the French online economy.
Hugues Stephane Bernard Mulliez is a French business entrepreneur. He is presently a board member at Telecel Group and the person in charge of its M-commerce service. He is the former founder of Net Player Games, founder and Chairman of Youg's, President and CEO of Surcouf and founder of Progressy société.
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Stockly is a French software company that provides a shared inventory management platform for e-commerce companies. Founded in 2018 by Eliott Jabès and Oscar Walter, the company is headquartered in Paris.
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US$2.570 billion (2017) [1] 
