Opening success in Belgium: Fourth JYSK store on its way
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Author: Laura Sulbæk Frederiksen, Communications & Sponsorship Consultant
The opening of the first two JYSK stores in Belgium in April 2017 has been a big success. So big that a third store has already opened and the search for premises for a fourth store has also begun.
A milestone was reached for JYSK, when owner Lars Larsen could open the first JYSK store in Belgium on April 5th in the town of Schoten near Antwerpen. On the same day, another JYSK store opened in the town of Genk, and now almost two months later a third store is also ready to welcome the Belgian customers.
Measured on sales, the opening of the first two stores in Belgium reached top-5 for store openings in the current financial year for JYSK. The opening in Schoten takes second place, while the opening in Genk comes in as number five.
“We are very positively surprised. We had set very high goals and had very high expectations for the opening in Belgium, but we had not anticipated that it would be so successful. On the first 28 opening days both stores have been visited by over 12,000 customers. That’s a lot of people," says Torben Nygaard Timmermann, Sales Manager for Belgium.
According to the Sales Manager the successful entry to Belgium is very much due to the many colleagues from the Dutch and Belgian JYSK organisation, who have been working very hard towards the openings.
The success continues
Even though the opening of the stores has been a success in Belgium, the most positive thing, according to Torben Timmermann, is that the success seems to last. The sales in the Belgian stores have generally been three times higher than the average and comparable Dutch JYSK stores.
“The stores are still doing fantastic now that everyday life has set in after the big opening ceremony. So we are working very hard to keep the pace and are taking an aggressive approach to the task of opening more new stores,” says Torben.
"We are very positively surprised. We had set very high goals and had very high expectations for the opening in Belgium, but we had not anticipated that it would be so successful..."
- Torben Nygaard Timmermann, Sales Manager Belgium.
On May 17th he was in Belgium to open store number three together with JYSK colleagues in the town of Lanaken near Maastricht close to the Dutch border. He also hopes to be able to push the opening of a fourth store into this financial year, and the search for premises is already under way.
“The success actually means the most to the planning of how many stores we put on the drawing board for the next financial year. If the success continues, we are most likely to revise upwards compared to the original plan,” says Torben. For now, the Belgian town of Olen is chosen as location for the fourth JYSK store.
Spot on with great offers
JYSK in Belgium
- JYSK owner Lars Larsen opened the first store in the town of Schoten in the Northern part of Belgium on April 5th.
- The same day another JYSK store opened in the city of Genk 90 kilometres south-east of Schoten.
- On May 17th a third JYSK store opened in the city of Lanaken.
- Belgium is country number 48 JYSK has opened in.
Beside the great work effort from JYSK colleagues, JYSK has also hit the market right in terms of products and prices.
“The way we have entered the market with our products and our pricing is really something that I think the customers have noticed, and this has helped to put some pressure on the competitors," says Torben.
And even though the stores have opened in the midst of garden season, especially the sales on indoor furniture is going surprisingly well.
“It is too soon to start analysing too much, but it looks like the Scandinavian style appeals to the customers, when we look on the sale of the individual products,” says Torben.
