Isabelle d'Otreppe - Coucou Shop - Lessons from a bankruptcy

Today we find ourselves with a new guest who will take you on a great entrepreneurial adventure: that of Coucou Shop!

It was an original concept of renting dresses and outfits for women, both in physical stores and online. Isabelle d'Otreppe joined the adventure in 2017 alongside Marie Berlier, with the ambition to further professionalize the project launched 2 years earlier with Donatienne Gérard.

In April 2024, Coucou Shop unfortunately had to file for bankruptcy. In this episode, Isabelle tells us without filter:

• The beginnings and the almost instantaneous influx of customers.

• The logistics headache, between dress cleaning, sewing and rental management on Excel.

• The 2 crises (Covid and energy) that turned their model upside down, which was then approaching profitability.

• A move that cost them 4 times more than expected.

• The struggles to spread out payments and try to get by.

• And in the end, bankruptcy, with all that that entails: curatorship, transfer of the business to Prêt-à-Louer which reopened in October 2024.

She also tells us about the difference between perseverance and stubbornness, or the need to breathe after such an experience.