The storm in the Quick Commerce market continues. Flink’s subsidiary in France, which employs several hundred employees, was placed in receivership on Monday June 5, by the Paris Commercial Court, the German parent company having “ decided to leave the French market”, announced its management.

In doing so, it clears the way for its Turkish competitor Getir, whose French subsidiary was also recently placed in receivership, but which now becomes the only “quick trade” player to have declared that it wishes to continue its activity in France.

As official company position for Flink, “the reasons are essentially regulatory”, explained the general manager of Flink France, Guillaume Luscan, who insisted on underlining “all the progress made in order to achieve profitability in France”.

The qcommmerce sector in France is strongly criticized by elected officials who denounce the arrival of “warehouse cities”, nuisances for local residents, even the development of the “lazy economy”.

In March, the sector suffered a major setback, with the government decreeing that “dark stores” – the premises where the products to be delivered are stored – were warehouses, and not shops, paving the way for regulation by the town halls of this activity. Indeed, these premises could be forced to close if the local urban plan (PLU) prohibits this type of activity at their address.

Flink uses 19 “dark stores” in 9 cities in France and “about two thirds of this activity is operated from shops”, said Luscan. “Our model works from the moment we are close to our customers” and, with the new regulations, “this is no longer possible”, regretted the general manager who specified that “the objective is to find a buyer “.

At the end of April, the British economic daily Financial Times affirmed, on the strength of sources familiar with the matter, that discussions were underway concerning a takeover by the Getir group of its German competitor Flink . Questioned then by AFP, Getir did not comment.

This Monday, Flink France declared “to have been focused on the preparation of the receivership file”. “We were in the process of building a sustainable model”, with Carrefour in particular as “investor and key partner”, lamented Luscan. Established in France for two years, Flink had bought its French competitor Cajoo in May 2022, which it had absorbed.