Chains complain about withdrawal process from Extra stores

Imagine arriving for another day of work and finding the store locked with chains, which prevent both employees and customers from accessing. This is what happened on Thursday (13), with the franchisees of the mattress manufacturer Ortobom, at Extra Alcântara, in Rio de Janeiro (RJ), at Extra Montese and at Extra Mister Hull, both in Fortaleza (CE). The same thing had already happened on the 5th at Extra on Avenida Vasco da Gama, in Salvador (BA), and at the end of December with Extra Niterói.

The reason for the unusual attitude was the unilateral termination of Extra’s lease agreement with shopkeepers who have points in the galleries that give access to hypermarkets, or in store parking lots.

After Extra, controlled by GPA (Grupo Pão de Açúcar), sold its points to Assaí in October (whose main shareholders are the same as GPA), GPA Malls, responsible for leasing the spaces, began a process of emptying the hypermarkets, which involves the unilateral termination of contracts with shopkeepers who had business in the galleries.

This is because the Extra stores will, for the most part, be renovated to become points of the wholesale Assaí flag. On the other hand, according to the leaf, GPA has been offering an indemnity considered negligible by retailers: 10% of sales in the first half of 2021, a weak period in sales due to the pandemic.

“But all our franchisees are up to date with the rent and other contractual obligations. They cannot prevent access if the Extra store itself continues to operate”, he told the leaf Ortobom’s commercial director, Rubens Francisco Dias Filho. The cases of the chained stores were resolved with the administration of each store, faced with the threat of calling the police.

“The lease contracts are with Ortobom, not with the franchisees. But they sent the tenants a notice that the rent was due to vacate the store in 30 days”, says Dias, who has 22 stores in Extra hypermarkets. According to him, the measure is a way of intimidating shopkeepers.

Casa do Pão de Queijo is also observing this practice. With 20 franchises in Extra stores, the company informed that it was removed from the indemnification negotiations by GPA Malls. “We were very uncomfortable with the process, very fast and overwhelming. But they didn’t want the flag to interfere. They just don’t serve me at GPA”, he told leaf the expansion director of Casa do Pão de Queijo, Ricardo Bertucci.

A franchisee of Casa do Pão de Queijo do Extra Anhanguera received a proposal for compensation of R$ 38,000, equivalent to 10% of what he invested in the business, and was notified 15 days before the hypermarket closed. “They were there a lifetime,” says Bertucci. “It was a couple’s livelihood.”

There is no guarantee that, after completing the renovation of the point, the shopkeeper will be able to return to the Assaí administration. For some Casa do Pão de Queijo franchisees, for example, it was informed that the company does not intend to reserve spaces for the gallery.

Those who decided to stay in the Extras since November began to face physical discomfort. The air conditioning in the rooms was turned off, access to the parking lot was blocked and even the use of the bathroom was prevented.

Still, some shopkeepers resist. Abrasel (Brazilian Association of Bars and Restaurants) confirms having received complaints from members regarding the process. In Belo Horizonte, a franchisee of Cacau Show filed a lawsuit to maintain the operation, even with the Extra unit closed.

In addition to Ortobom, Casa do Pão de Queijo and Cacau Show, leaf found that the clash with Extra affects franchisees of other major brands, such as Giraffas, Rei do Mate, Oakberry and O Boticário. Not everyone agrees to speak out, fearing reprisals from GPA Malls, with whom they are still negotiating.

“Customers are being greatly harmed: stores have been closed or have compromised sales, since Extra itself no longer replenishes stock. Cerveira, which represents some networks in the negotiation with GPA Malls.

In addition, says Cerveira, GPA’s communication was flawed: a committee was not set up to receive the tenants of the spaces and prepare the transition for the closure of operations. “A conduct liable to be criticized”, he says. According to him, the attitude is not consistent with that of a company that values ​​ESG concepts — of environmental, social and corporate governance.

Other side

Questioned by the report, the company informed, through its press office, that “it is not preventing partners and shopkeepers from accessing its spaces”.

According to the company, in October 2021, the end of the Extra hypermarket was announced. “Of the 103 stores in the network, 70 commercial points will be converted into Assaí, and the other 33 units will be transformed into other GPA formats or closed,” the company said.

Read the note sent to leaf in full:

GPA clarifies that, regardless of the termination of Extra Hiper’s activities, it has always valued and will continue to value the relationship with its store partners, and that the proposal presented to them takes into account the contractual characteristics and eventual interventions that may take place in the spaces with the new venture. It is worth clarifying that, at this moment, negotiations are being carried out by GPA, the company responsible for managing the galleries of the hypermarket units, individually with each retailer. In the coming months, GPA will assign these contracts to Assaí.

Regarding the tenants who will remain after the opening of Assaí, the expectation is that they will have a significant increase in flow, at least twice as much when compared to what was previously recorded. Finally, the time that these 70 units negotiated with Assaí will be closed depends on the wholesale company’s work schedule, which will still be defined and agreed with each retailer.