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'The French people want to save us': help pours in for glassmaker Duralex

theguardian.com

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Re: 'The French people want to save us': help pours in for glassmaker Duralex

#21

Post by adrian_b »

jonathanstrange wrote: post #5
chihuahua wrote: post #3

While there is no shortage of irrelevant details, the article is very light on relevant details. What prevents the factory from staying in business? Not enough orders? The French people supposedly love this glassware and orders pour in whenever the company is mentioned. They have the factory up and running, they have employees. The workers own the means of production, what could be better than that? Why do they need…

I guess they have the same problem that Superfest glass from the GDR had, the glasses just don't break often enough.

Indeed.

I use only borosilicate glass vessels for cooking, for storing food, for eating and for drinking (some from France, some from Czechia).

I have replaced some of them in order to have more optimized sizes and shapes for the ways I use them (even if the replaced vessels were still perfectly good), and I have some extra vessels kept in reserve for the very unlikely case when I will break a vessel (which has not happened yet).

I do not expect that I would need to buy any more such vessels during my lifetime, unless I will become bored of those that I have and I would want a change.

So making money from selling high-quality glassware that can last forever is much more difficult than getting free money from a software subscription.

Re: 'The French people want to save us': help pours in for glassmaker Duralex

#22

Post by constantcrying »

Selling products based on nostalgia does not work. Europe needs to do far more keep it's industry afloat and to make locally produced products competitive.

Duralex is currently selling products at 10x the costs of what a similar product, made in China, costs on Amazon. This is not sustainable. These enormous differences in prices mean that only very people can afford their products. It is a brand which sells an everyday item at prices, which are legitimately hard to afford for most of the population.

Obviously a company like this can not succeed long term. It is totally uncompetitive, except for some brand recognition and positive brand perception. These obviously help, but will do nothing for the long term success.

Re: 'The French people want to save us': help pours in for glassmaker Duralex

#23

Post by constantcrying »

mrweasel wrote: post #17
variadix wrote: post #14

They make great glassware, very scratch and chip resistant.

That's probably their problem, cheap and long lasting isn't good for business.

Their products are extremely expensive.

Re: 'The French people want to save us': help pours in for glassmaker Duralex

#24

Post by sigmoid10 »

pjerem wrote: post #6

The article mentions it, but don’t insist on it. Duralex is now quite a special company: they were a renowned and beloved brand that was heading toward bankruptcy, until last year when the company was bought by its own workers and turned into a cooperative. Since then, they have stayed afloat, probably thanks mainly to people wanting to support a worker-owned business by buying their glasses, but still, it works. It’…

There's a reason why worker owned companies (which were quite prevalent and a key factor in the 20th century's socialist movements) did not survive in our capitalist world. If we want to see these kinds of companies thrive, we need to change the entire market philosophy. Otherwise they will always be out-competed by companies that favour revenue/profit over worker benefits. In fact they will not even take off in the first place, because that needs capital and investors who own capital will want shares in return, which goes against the core principle of worker-ownership.

Re: 'The French people want to save us': help pours in for glassmaker Duralex

#25

Post by cess11 »

sigmoid10 wrote: post #24
pjerem wrote: post #6

The article mentions it, but don’t insist on it. Duralex is now quite a special company: they were a renowned and beloved brand that was heading toward bankruptcy, until last year when the company was bought by its own workers and turned into a cooperative. Since then, they have stayed afloat, probably thanks mainly to people wanting to support a worker-owned business by buying their glasses, but still, it works. It’…

There's a reason why worker owned companies (which were quite prevalent and a key factor in the 20th century's socialist movements) did not survive in our capitalist world. If we want to see these kinds of companies thrive, we need to change the entire market philosophy. Otherwise they will always be out-competed by companies that favour revenue/profit over worker benefits. In fact they will not even take off in the…

Such companies are more common than you think.

Re: 'The French people want to save us': help pours in for glassmaker Duralex

#26

Post by lostlogin »

catlikesshrimp wrote: post #7
chihuahua wrote: post #3

While there is no shortage of irrelevant details, the article is very light on relevant details. What prevents the factory from staying in business? Not enough orders? The French people supposedly love this glassware and orders pour in whenever the company is mentioned. They have the factory up and running, they have employees. The workers own the means of production, what could be better than that? Why do they need…

Products which don't respect all the environment, the workers and the consumers are cheaper; much cheaper. You can't win when other players are playing a different game. This is another report from another French glass manufacturer. They couldn't meet their social responsibilty. Workers close the plant, and then the Mayor was pushing an unrelated company inthe viccinity, Nestle, to take over the failing glass plant h…

That’s all true, but to be clear, the Mayor supported the workers and wanted Nestle to take over the failing plant.

Re: 'The French people want to save us': help pours in for glassmaker Duralex

#27

Post by Broussebar »

As the article said Duralex was the brand use by a large number of school cantinas in France. Inside of each glass there’s a small number used by the brand to identify the mold used for the creation of the glass. For kids that was a way to decide who is going to fetch the water for the table (smaller number or higher number of the table). That’s why the CE is holding his glass like that in the guardian article. Beside the nostalgia i think a lot of people support them because it’s a SCOP (the majority of the capital of the company is owned by the employees) [1] and it’s nice to see that another kind of company is possible.

[1] https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soci%C3%A9t%C3%A9_coop%C3%A9ra...

Re: 'The French people want to save us': help pours in for glassmaker Duralex

#28

Post by drob518 »

If they experience a flood of orders every time they are mentioned in the media and people flock to throw them money when they are in trouble, it seems like they should raise prices commensurate with their costs increasing and should probably invest in a little advertising. The brand seems strong and undamaged but they continue to struggle? That seems like a pretty easy fix.

Re: 'The French people want to save us': help pours in for glassmaker Duralex

#29

Post by FartyMcFarter »

card_zero wrote: post #20
INTPenis wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is more expensive than for example IKEA glasses, but I swear by Duralex. Ever since an IKEA glass spontaneously exploded on my desk. I suddenly remembered we used Duralex at school in Sweden in the 90s, so I ordered brand new Duralex glasses and no explosions yet. I imagine if they were being used in schools, with 13-17 year olds, being washed every day for years until they were covered in scratches, they must be…

Buy Duralex — the glassware that won't explode soon.

Buy Duralex — the glassware that soon won't explode.

Re: 'The French people want to save us': help pours in for glassmaker Duralex

#30

Post by griffzhowl »

sigmoid10 wrote: post #24
pjerem wrote: post #6

The article mentions it, but don’t insist on it. Duralex is now quite a special company: they were a renowned and beloved brand that was heading toward bankruptcy, until last year when the company was bought by its own workers and turned into a cooperative. Since then, they have stayed afloat, probably thanks mainly to people wanting to support a worker-owned business by buying their glasses, but still, it works. It’…

There's a reason why worker owned companies (which were quite prevalent and a key factor in the 20th century's socialist movements) did not survive in our capitalist world. If we want to see these kinds of companies thrive, we need to change the entire market philosophy. Otherwise they will always be out-competed by companies that favour revenue/profit over worker benefits. In fact they will not even take off in the…

They did survive. There are thousands in Spain and Italy especially.

One of the most well-known is the Mondragon Corporation from the Basque country, one of Spain's largest comanies:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mondragon_Corporation

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