André went from 500 shoe stores across France to 14 — then the court stepped in again

André was founded in 1896 in Nancy by brothers Albert and Jérôme Lévy, who took over a small shoemaking workshop and turned it into France's dominant footwear chain. By 1936 it had 130 stores and was the number-one shoe seller in the country. At its peak in 1981, André operated 500 stores across France, selling millions of pairs through a mix of owned boutiques and hypermarket concessions. It was as French a household name as Bata was in Central Europe.

The decline began in the 1990s after a British investment fund ousted long-time president Jean-Louis Descours. The renamed parent Vivarte took the brand through two decades of chronic deficits and ownership turmoil: sold to online retailer Spartoo in 2018, placed in receivership in March 2020 after COVID-19 forced store closures, taken over by former director François Feijoo with just 55 of its 180 stores and 221 of 600 employees. A second receivership in February 2023 reduced it further to 21 stores under Belgian owner Optakare.

On 30 April 2025, the Paris Commercial Court placed André into redressement judiciaire for the third time in five years — now operating only 14 boutiques and two corners in Galeries Lafayette and Printemps, with approximately 60 employees and a projected annual turnover of €11.6 million. Two partial buyout offers were published in November 2025, neither covering the full chain. A brand that once had 500 French addresses was down to its last dozen doors.