It is a historic brand from Saint-Étienne (Loire) that is revived today : Manufrance. A name known to all French football fans, forever associated with the epic 1976 victory of the Greens , the ASSE footballers. Manufrance was the team's main jersey sponsor. At its peak, the Manufacture française d'armes et cycles de Saint-Étienne employed up to 4,000 people in its Saint-Étienne factories. Before the brutal decline in the late 1970s and early 1980s and the descent into hell for the employees. While AS Saint-Étienne moved to the Second Division following the slush fund scandal in 1982. A painful period from which the city of Saint-Étienne has never really recovered.
Lately, however, things have been looking up for both the Saint-Étienne club and Manufrance. The Greens are back in Ligue 1, and the green brand is reborn online. In reality, it never really disappeared. Bought in 1988 by a Saint-Étienne businessman, Jacques Tavitian, Manufrance has survived the ages, experiencing difficult periods marked in particular by the end of mail order, competition from Chinese products, and the advent of the Internet. For more than twenty years, in his shop—a warehouse located near Place Jean-Jaurès in Saint-Étienne—Jacques Tavitian stood firm, struggling to keep Manufrance alive.
Today, his daughter Carole runs the company, determined to dust off a brand her dearly departed father loved so much. It no longer sells bicycles and rifles, but the "Made in France" spirit remains. Now with just a handful of employees, Manufrance has refocused on homeware, textiles, nature, and cutlery. Digital technology has replaced the legendary mail-order catalog.
Almost all of the products are manufactured by subcontractors in France. Carole Tavitian is committed to this more than anything: "We set up our own design office. We have industrial partnerships with suppliers throughout the regions. We choose SMEs that have real expertise but don't have the time to do business, with whom we work on Manufrance products, but not only."
To win back customers, the company is fully committed to the "made in France" card: customizable pocket knives produced in Thiers in Puy-de-Dôme, the MF-colored mug made by an artisan enameler, the blueberry comb in real beech made from several types of wood, etc.
Thanks to Mr. Michaud for this article.