The dream of recovering the historic Marie Claire stockings company is shattered

ValenciaA painful end for the workers of the historic Marie Claire factory in the Valencian municipality of Vilafranca (Els Ports) who have seen their dream of getting back on track shattered.

The company's return has been so fleeting that it has not lasted even half a year. In addition, it has been very turbulent, since the 76 employees who had recovered their jobs - at the end of 2023 there were 266 workers - had not yet received a single paycheck. Marie Claire's final farewell leaves them with unpaid salaries for October, November, December and January. A month ago, an unpaid work permit was agreed until the company paid the salaries, a circumstance that has not occurred.

Far from normalizing the situation, this Monday the company For Men, which bought Marie Claire in August when it was in bankruptcy, announced the closure of the company and the dismissal of the entire staff. It did so in response to the decision of a court in Castellón to maintain the embargo of all the assets and rights of Marie Claire, as well as the balances of the bank accounts and shares of For Men and its administrator due to their non-payments.

The distrust of the justice system and of the workers towards the new buyer, the investor Ángel Pío Sánchez, promoter of the historic Celso department store in Madrid – later absorbed by Galerías Preciados and El Corte Inglés – was so great that a few days ago the Marie Claire company committee did not respond. "The best thing that could happen to us, although it is sad to say, is the definitive closure of our company, for the good and health of all of us," said the employees. In fact, the workers had called for a demonstration at the doors of the company on Wednesday to protest the situation under the slogan I don't trust Angel Pio.

After the news was made public, the Valencian government has regretted the closure of Marie Claire and has announced that it will study a relocation plan for the staff. The historic stockings, underwear and socks factory had been founded in 1907 by two local residents –Francisca Íñigo and Celestino Aznar– and now seems to have definitively come to an end.