Alumni & Entrepreneur - La Trésorerie - Denis Geffrault

Dear alumni,

Today we offer you the fourth portrait of Alumni & Entrepreneur.This week, we had the pleasure to discuss with Denis Geffrault (IFM Management 1990), co-founder of La Trésorerie. 

Hello Denis, 

Thank you for taking the time to answer our few questions. So, although we were unable to come and visit you in your shop, it was a real pleasure to browse your website. We discovered some very beautiful objects and we quickly perceived their values and their authenticity. 

But before talking about your company, let's try to learn a little bit more about you.

Our first ritual question is related to Fashion, which brings all Alumni together and yet varies so much. 

In your career, who is the designer who inspired you the most and to whom you can still refer today?

I would mention José Levy, who launched his brand in the late 1980s and with whom I had partnered. José changed the way men could dress by finally making them look soft, and above all he taught me pugnacity: anything is possible, anything is feasible. Hedi Slimane, who was also working alongside him at the time, had the same willingness.

I would like to refer to another fashion personality... who is not really a designer... Jean-Louis Dumas. I was very fortunate to work with him when I was at Hermès. He gave me a certain discipline: you must never let yourself be overwhelmed by convention, but try to surprise! That's the requirement of "not to step aside".

Do you, Denis, have a must have in your locker room? Something you cannot part with? 

Yes. It's easy! My navy blue Breton sailor sweater never leaves my side... 

I'm Breton and in my childhood, I had a lot of trouble with woollen sweaters. I found them uncomfortable. They scratched me, pricked me. I couldn't manage to wear them. Then, as I grew up, I came to understand that quality wool had unbeatable thermal properties. It doesn't move ...  

And then the sailor sweater gives an attitude, it makes you look more beautiful. My favorite brands: Saint James and Armor Lux. 

Imagine if you could only eat one dish, which one would you choose?

The cabbage sausage. It's quite a complicated dish to prepare. The sausage has to be smoked for several days - over a wood fire of course - before it is cooked. The cabbage must be cooked in two waters. It's a real Breton peasant dish!

Thank you Denis, we've already entered a little into your personal universe... We can now begin our alphabet of questions.

Question A - Let's start with the letter A... And so let's start with the beginning of your story.  How did you start La Trésorerie?

After studying at IFM, I taught there for few years. Then, in the early 2000s, I worked for a year with Agnès B before continuing for three years at Hermès as Sales Director. I liked the gratifying side of retail, the immediate reward or sanction. I was a big fan of natural, healthy and organic food, and at that time the organic stores were a bit sad, hidden, not always clean ... 

I then had the idea to create a place for everyone, colorful and where it would be nice to go shopping. In 2006, I opened my first organic grocery store, under the Lémo name, and a second one in 2008.

In 2013, the growth of organic stores took off. I decided to sell my two stores because there was no longer really a challenge for me. 

The next logical step was "home". It was necessary to propose a unique offer of objects that was as responsible as possible: both in terms of the materials used - no oil, only natural fibres - and in the sourcing of products that mainly come from France and Europe. 

Nothing should come from too far away. With my two associates, Elsa Coustals and Lino Landau, we created La Trésorerie: a place where useful, functional and everyday objects come together. Our offer is based on strict product sustainability criteria to move away from futility and mass consumption. 

Our shop is located in the premises of the former main La Trésorerie in the 10th arrondissement, the Public Treasury. Coincidence? Maybe, but what is certain is that we decided to call our shop La Trésorerie, because we believe that an object of extreme simplicity can be a real treasure for those who know how to see it or use it.

Question B as Bascule Breaking point

At some point, you made this decision to be an entrepreneur, how did the switch happen?

It's something I've always wanted to do. I like to be independent and I appreciate the richness that you have as an entrepreneur to be multi-tasked and to take risks. It's stimulating.

Question C for Council 

In your opinion, what is the best quality of a entrepreneur? What advice would you give to a student who is attracted to entrepreneurship?

First of all, it takes a great amount of determination! A project is much more than just an idea, no matter how good it is. To be carried out successfully, a project needs determination and method. 

On the other hand, you have to be comfortable with failure. There is a high probability that you will miss your goals or never achieve them. You have to prepare for failure as much as for success and all the situations in between. Living it badly can quickly lead to paralyzing anxiety...

Then you have to be comfortable with the money. Your money as well as the investors' money. Money is never more than a means, an indispensable tool. Money is part of the equation and part of the risks to be taken. If that money is not ours, we should not feel guilty, and if it is ours, we will have learned from it. We have to take responsibility for what it has been used and invested in.

Finally, it's better to work together on a project. Two or three, even if not everyone is equal and even if there must be a leader. When you're alone, you risk going in circles... You can quickly go in the wrong direction, because no one is there to answer your ideas, your certainties or your doubts. 

We must also listen, but not systematically apply all the advice. Everyone has an opinion, usually to point out difficulties. It is easier to list dangers than to find opportunities. You have to be guided by your intuition. 

La Trésorerie today is not quite what we imagined in 2013. The concept has evolved, even if it has remained true to its original promise. It is the result of many meetings, opinions that we have more or less integrated... You have to imagine the path of a company project as a staircase, you climb the stairs like steps to reach a better vision, alive, that works.

Question R comme Right Know

Faced with the crisis we are going through, the shop has closed and will soon reopen !!! How have you been facing and how are you preparing for the future? Can you tell us about it? 

Our website has been in existence almost since the opening of our shop. We have built it as a real catalogue, all our products are listed there.

But it worked in 2 phases. During the first phase, we decided to leave the online shop open, but without delivering because we had no visibility on the deadlines. 

Then, around April 20th, we activated the second phase, which allows us to deliver, and also to pick up customers' online orders directly in store. But we must not lie to ourselves, the shortfall is terrible.

In communication, we worked on Social Networks, notably Instagram and Facebook. We take advantage of this to run contests, we share information about our products, recipes as well, because we also run a coffee shop. Finally, we try to bring content via 100% digital communication. 

The business model of retail is constantly being questioned. It's a new shock. E-commerce is going to accelerate even more, and yet the shop is a rather magical place that is difficult to replace.

An own shop and an online shop go well together. The site has to be sufficiently complete and attractive for the prospect to want to cross Paris (or France) to come to our store. That he can pre-order and finalize in the shop or vice versa. The two are very complementary, intimately linked. It is therefore essential to continue to invest in our online store. 

So yes, reinventing retail is not easy at all. Those who work there ask themselves questions every morning. Covid-19 has only accelerated the process. Do we need to go towards more instagram stories, more live demonstrations, new content to stay close to our customers?

This health crisis questions the materialistic attitudes and logics of our societies. Our collective awareness is accelerating. La Trésorerie is recognized as the most responsible decoration store in the world. We are the strictest, the most committed. Will this be a sufficient advantage?

I am already proud of the support of our loyal customers for the purchasing approach we offer. New customers are currently turning to us. Let's keep digging our furrow.

Question N

We'll go right to Question N... It's the Network question. Do you network for your projects? That of the IFM Alumni? What do these networks bring you?

I must admit that I am more in a "circle" than in a "network" mode of operation. 

But I am very attached to the IFM. It is like a family for me. I have a lot of admiration and tenderness for Didier Grumbach, for his accuracy and elegance of expression. 

I have always had a great pleasure to share with IFM Alumni, we are a real community, the discussions are often rich and direct. We have between us a lot of listening, respect and shared approaches.

Question Y 

Our penultimate question... what's the last thing you wouldn't expect to do as a contractor?  

I wouldn't expect to have to escape. If that were to happen, it would surprise me greatly. I'm more of a person who likes to face things or events…

Question Z 

So, this is the last question, if you could change anything that is currently out of your scope to help the development of your business what would you want to change?

I wish I had power over the weather, pragmatically it's the key to business. I would like rain only at night and a nice little cold on Saturday morning. The customers will be able to take advantage of their Saturdays to visit us and buy a plaid or a cooking pot to make themselves a nice little dish...