Gerard Mulliez

Gerard, Paul, Louis Mulliez , born with Roubaix the May 13rd 1931, is the founder of Auchan

Its youth

Wire of Gerard Mulliez, directing textile family company Phildar, it begins its studies at the Notre Dame school of the Dunes with Dunkirk, continues them with the college Jean XXIII (now Saint-Remi college) of Roubaix, then studies in Mayfield Collège in England and finishes its formation at the technical Institute of Roubaix.
In 1954, it enters the family company as a foreman, since 1956, he becomes works manager and quickly becomes director.

The creation of Auchan

At the end of the years 1950, it leaves to the United States to attend the seminars of Bernardo Trujillo on the new commercial formulas which are born on the other side of the Atlantic. Taking as a starting point the model Crossroads (whose founder, Marcel Baker (business man), applied the precepts of Bernardo Trujillo), Gerard Mulliez opens in 1961 in Roubaix its first store in an old factory of the Phildar group located in the district of the “High Fields”, which is at the origin of the name of the sign. The Auchan orthography is due to the wish to appear the first in the directory.

But the beginnings are difficult and the piteous results. Gerard Mulliez then decides to take to council near Edouard Leclerc (founder of the stores E.Leclerc) and he discovers that to sell less expensive makes sell more. He applies in particular this principle to the Whiskey, of which he breaks the prices.

The development of a family group

Following its first success, a second store opens with Roncq. However, testing little sympathy to the banks or the financial markets, it calls upon the assets of its family and creates “the Family association Mulliez” (AFM), called improperly “Mulliez group”, of which it takes the reins. This association will take shares in Auchan, then in all the companies created by the family members. This self-financing allows the Auchan company an attack of the national territory as from 1971, then of international in 1981.

The man is defined as a catholic leader , and believes in the motivation of paid by the granting of actions to the personnel, which it sets up since 1977. The arrival of the left in 1981, and the installation of the solidarity tax on fortune pushes, part of its family, to leave the Northern near for the Belgium.

It took the presidency of the Board of directors of the group Auchan until 1996 before taking that of the Board of trustees. In 2001, it makes vote the passage from 70 to 75 years the limiting age of the members of the board of trustees in order to prepare his replacement. May 10th, 2006, whereas it approaches the age limit 75 years, the AFM, principal shareholder of the Auchan group, announces that Gerard Mulliez leaves the head of the board of trustees as from the June 6th 2006 and leaves the succession of the group to the son of his first cousin Vianney Mulliez, preferring it in Arnaud Mulliez, the son of Gerard Mulliez. It preserves however a base in the group by taking the president's function of the strategic committee.

It had previously left with one its nephews, Thierry Mulliez, the presidency of the AFM.

Gerard Mulliez is decorated with the Légion of honor. With Richard C. Whiteley, he is the joint author of the book the dynamics of the customer (Maximum-Laurent of Mesnil editor, Paris, 1994, 1st ED.).

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