BUT is a French brand of retail stores specialized in home goods, including

furniture Furniture refers to movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., stools, chairs, and sofas), eating (tables), storing items, eating and/or working with an item, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks). Fu ...

large Large means of great size. Large may also refer to: Mathematics * Arbitrarily large, a phrase in mathematics * Large cardinal, a property of certain transfinite numbers * Large category, a category with a proper class of objects and morphisms (or ...

and

small Small may refer to: Science and technology * SMALL, an ALGOL-like programming language * Small (anatomy), the lumbar region of the back * ''Small'' (journal), a nano-science publication * <small>, an HTML element that defines smaller text ...

appliances, and

consumer electronics Consumer electronics or home electronics are electronic (analog or digital) equipment intended for everyday use, typically in private homes. Consumer electronics include devices used for entertainment, communications and recreation. Usually r ...

History

The BUT brand was created in 1972 by André Venturini in

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very cl ...

, France. With his son Michel, he rapidly expanded his network by using

franchising Franchising is based on a marketing concept which can be adopted by an organization as a strategy for business expansion. Where implemented, a franchisor licenses some or all of its know-how, procedures, intellectual property, use of its busine ...

. In 1982, there were 140 BUT stores, and in 2015, 280. In 1987,

Carrefour Carrefour () is a French multinational retail and wholesaling corporation headquartered in Massy, France. The eighth-largest retailer in the world by revenue, it operates a chain of hypermarkets, groceries stores and convenience stores, which ...

became a major shareholder of BUT; it sold its shares in 1993. In 1997, BUT was bought by the English company

Kingfisher Kingfishers are a family, the Alcedinidae, of small to medium-sized, brightly colored birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species found in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Oceania, ...

, which made it part of Kingfisher Electricals. Since 31 March 2008, BUT has been owned to Decomeubles Partners, a company held by a consortium of

Colony Capital DigitalBridge Group, Inc. is a global digital infrastructure investment firm. The company owns, invests in and operates businesses such as cell towers, data centers, fiber, small cells, and edge infrastructure. Headquartered in Boca Raton, Digita ...

Goldman Sachs Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, H ...

, and OpCapita. In November 2016, a 50/50 partnership between Austrian furniture retailer XXXLutz Group and

Clayton, Dubilier & Rice Clayton, Dubilier & Rice is an American private equity company. It is one of the oldest private equity investment firms in the world. Founded in 1978, CD&R has managed the investment of more than $30 billion in approximately 90 businesses, repre ...

acquired BUT. In July 2020, BUT acquired the French branches of

Conforama Conforama is Europe's second-largest home furnishings retail chain with over 200 stores in France, Spain, Switzerland, Portugal, Luxembourg, Italy, and Croatia. History and ownership In the early 1960s, Pierre and Guy Sordoillet, Jean Moll a ...

Sectors

BUT stores offer three types of goods: * Furniture and home decoration, especially living room, bedroom, and kitchen * Home appliances, both

major appliance A major appliance, also known as a large domestic appliance or large electric appliance or simply a large appliance, large domestic, or large electric, is a non-portable or semi-portable machine used for routine housekeeping tasks such as cookin ...

s and

small appliance A small domestic appliance, also known as a small electric appliance or minor appliance or simply a small appliance, small domestic or small electric, is a portable or semi-portable machine, generally used on table-tops, counter-tops or oth ...

s. * Audio-visual Fidem is the company that manages the BUT card.

Slogan

*Current: But, c'est NOUS ! 'BUT is ''us''!' *Previously: "Vous êtes bien chez BUT" 'You're comfortable at BUT'; "On s'y retrouve tous!" 'Everyone meets at BUT'; "Choisissez bien, choisissez BUT" 'Choose well, choose BUT'; "Le juste prix" 'The right price'. From 1989 to 2001, BUT was the official partner of the TV game ''

Le Juste Prix ''Le Juste Prix'' ("The Fair Price") is a French adaptation of the American game show ''The Price Is Right'' that airs on TF1. It first premiered in 1988 and ran until the original version was canceled in 2001. In 2002 a brief sequel, ''Le Juste ...

'' (the French version of ''

The Price Is Right ''The Price Is Right'' is a television game show franchise created by Bob Stewart, originally produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman; currently it is produced and owned by Fremantle. The franchise centers on television game shows, but also inc ...

''), whence its slogan 'Le juste prix'.

References

External links

Official site
{{Authority control French brands Retail companies established in 1972 1972 establishments in France