IDKIDS partnering to build social businesses in Nord-Pas de Calais

The Group's track record of sponsoring employment and integration initiatives; sustainable support for action programs, the Involvement of intrapreneur-oriented employees and the Partnerships with other actors (companies, associations, local authorities) contributed to the emergence of several projects
 
First example

In 2009, an Idkids employee created Ensovo, a firm dedicated to social integration through workforce participation. Ensovo is a logistics service that landed Okaïdi as its first client. The company however has been unable to achieve financial autonomy. In 2011, Ensovo was brought back into the Group in preserving all its jobs (i.e. the founding employee plus some ten staff); business activity grew in-house through a contract signed to manage all of Okaïdi's end-of-season stocks. In 2014, a logistics manager working for the Group expressed interest in acquiring 80% of Ensovo's capital, with the other 20% still held by the Group, in a role of advisory partner. Ensovo expanded its activity to all non-merchandise transport (e.g. bags, point-of-sale (POS) advertising, POS information) for Okaïdi, in addition to developing logistics services in conjunction with other clients outside of Idkids.

Second example

In 2011, Idkids initiated a partnership with the Roubaix-based Amitié Partage (Shared Friendship) association, focusing on a social integration project to help underprivileged women restore their self-confidence, find work or sign up for a skills training course. The targeted economic model was a social business that launched a line of baby clothes hand-knit by the enrolled women, in partnering with Phildar for wool donations and funneling profits back into the integration project.
Between 2011 and 2013, the first "Love Maille" collections, created in partnership with Obaïbi, were sold at Idkids, the sales outlet for Group brands located in northern France. 80% of the items were sold, but profits did not cover integration project costs. In 2014, the brand Jacadi decided to sponsor the project, with heavy involvement from staff: design, computing, procurement, purchasing, communication, Web services, accounting, retailing, logistics. The new line was being sold in 4 stores and online via the brand's website.