L’entreprise de confection Conchon-Quinette : Les enjeux d’une approche comparatiste dans la business history

The creation of the company Conchon-Quinette is the result of the union of two families. The Conchons were originally from Volvic (a small town at the gates of Clermont-Ferrand). The Quinette family came from Normandy and settled in the capital of Auvergne at the beginning of the 19th century. Between 1843, when the first store was opened at number 14 on Blatin Street, in the heart of Clermont, and 2009, when the company was entirely bought off by Devred, Conchon-Quinette took on to make a name for itself. The company reached up to 3000 employees (mostly women) with its ten or so clothing factories and its 200 retail stores, present in more than 40 French departments (administrative divisions of France). In order to study how this clothing manufacturer from Clermont falls into the scope of comparison, and what the main challenges of this approach are, we made the choice of a thematic approach in 3 parts. Firstly, our task will be to emphasize how the company stands out with its rediscovered history. Secondly, we will study the company through a traditional comparative historical method. We will use other examples of companies for reference without claiming to be exhaustive. Last but not least, we will develop a novel approach, the “comparaisonée” approach, which will entail a more internal comparison of the company Conchon-Quinette.