One year and four stores in: Türkiye shows huge potential
On 4 May 2024, JYSK celebrated one year in Türkiye. Now with the fourth store opened, it’s time to evaluate on the start.
It’s been almost 14 months since Türkiye was introduced to “harika bir teklif” - Turkish for “a great offer”.
Four stores in, the Turkish adventure is progressing nicely, after an educational beginning.
“It’s always interesting to open in a new country. There’s a lot of trial and error, when it comes to assortment and what the customers in a new country react to. So, it’s been a great learning experience, and I’m very confident in our future in Türkiye,” says Mikael Nielsen, EVP Retail.
The confidence is based on the sales figures we’re currently seeing, and the fact that the customers in Türkiye are embracing the Scandinavian style.
“Our products have been really well received, and especially homeware and decorative articles are selling really well. We’ve been like a breath of fresh air, it seems,” explains Expansion Director, Mikael Albæk Kristensen.
Huge potential 
But good products can’t stand alone.
It takes a lot of hard work breaking into a new market in a new country, perhaps especially with a different culture.
“Our colleagues have done an amazing job from the start, in breaking into this new market. That really showed when we opened our third store. The response and numbers from the opening were very positive,” says Mikael Nielsen.
Like the first three, the fourth store opened in Istanbul, and with more than 16 million living in this city, more stores are planned in the future as well.
To make sure the expansion continues in the right direction, JYSK Türkiye (JTR) has been set up as an independent country, getting its own Country Director, Fatih Tezcan, who will begin onboarding in July.
“Country Director for Bulgaria, Romania and Türkiye, Alexandru Bratu, and his Country Management Team have done an excellent job. Now the new Country Director comes in with big insight into retail in Türkiye and will certainly help lead the expansion,” says Mikael Nielsen.
Proud to be JYSK
The goal for the future is to consolidate the position in Istanbul and then eventually expand to more cities. If all goes well, the expansion could potentially reach 10 to 20 stores per year.
In order to achieve this goal, a lot will be required from our colleagues in Türkiye. But just like the customers have embraced the Scandinavian style, the employees have embraced JYSK Values.
“Jan Verhoek, EVP HR, and I went to Türkiye last year to teach our new colleagues about our JYSK Values. It was a great experience to see their enthusiasm and how they embraced it. I’ve visited since and every time I’m met with this sense of pride to be part of JYSK and an eagerness to succeed, and it makes me optimistic about our future in Türkiye,” says Mikael Nielsen.
