A Diversification Towards Retail
In March 1990, François Pinault was elected president of CFAO, which specialized in electrical material distribution and negotiation in Africa.
In April 1991, Pinault SA entered the retail distribution market, with the takeover of Conforama.
In 1992, the Group sold the Compagnie Industrielle d’Ameublement (kitchen furniture), of Ordo (office furniture) and Isoroy (wood panel makers). During the same year, The Pinault-Printemps Group was born out of the Au printemps SA takeover, which owned 54% of La Redoute and Finaref. In 1993, the Armand Thierry company, bought by Le Printemps, was sold. Disco (Food-industry retailer) was also sold.
In 1994, La Redoute was absorbed by Pinault-Printemps, and renamed Pinault-Printemps-Redoute. In July, the group took control of French retailer Fnac.
In 1995, the Group launched its first Website: www.laredoute.fr.
In 1996, CFAO bought SCOA, the main pharmaceutical distributor in West Africa. The same year, PPR created Orcanta, a lingerie distributor.
Over the following years, PPR continued to develop its activities in retail and home shopping sectors. In 1997, Redcats (PPR’s home shopping retailer, built around La Redoute) took control of Ellos, Scandinavia’s home shopping leader. The same year, Fnac created Fnac Junior, a concept-store which targets young people under 12.
In 1998, PPR continued its acquisitions in the home shopping sector: Redcats acquired 49.9% of Brylane (home shopping company in the United States). PPR also took control of Guilbert (specialized in office furniture retailing).
In 1999, Fnac launched its Website: www.fnac.com
Read more about this topic: PPR (company), History
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