French furniture and home decor company Maisons du Monde has announced the appointment of Christophe Lapotre as its new group Chief Operating Officer.

As part of the role, Christophe is in charge of sales development and performance of the group’s 352 stores in nine European countries.

He succeeds Yohann Catherine and “ensures the respect, deployment and influence of the commercial concept of Maisons du Monde in France and internationally,” the company said.

After a stint at Kiabi as Store Manager, Christophe Lapotre had an international career within the Celio group, first as Director of the Celio subsidiary in Spain, then as Retail Director Europe.

Maisons recently revealed its exit from the UK market following reduced sales. According to its latest filed accounts for the year ended 31 December 2022, total UK sales fell 39% to £9.2m from £15.1m in 2021. This marked a second consecutive year of declining revenues, adding to its prior fall of 5% from £15.9m in 2020.

“After several years of market presence in the UK, Maisons du Monde has decided in Q2 2023 to shut down its operations in the UK,” Maisons said. “The group did not have a retail footprint in the country and therefore did not benefit from the same brand awareness. Sales in the UK, only online, represented just 1% of group sales in full-year 2022.”