Tiina helps secure attractive stores
Tiina Repo from Finland is one of several Store Concept Managers, who are helping to secure attractive stores across Europe.
Attractive stores do not just happen without effort.
One JYSK colleague who knows all about this is Tiina Repo. As Store Concept Manager, she is responsible for guiding and supporting all 75 stores in Finland to keep them attractive – both for customers and employees.
“Some concepts and spaces are easy to update in the store, but others require more effort. For instance, home textiles are often located in different places in the stores, and that of course takes some effort to make all spaces as similar as possible,” says Tiina.
Cooperation with colleagues
Apart from 22 years of experience with working in JYSK, starting as Sales Assistant in a store, Tiina also has the support of the entire Retail Development organisation.
Her functional reference is Fokke Been, who is Retail Concept Manager and responsible for supporting all Store Concept Managers in the different countries.
“I have a good cooperation with Fokke and with the Retail Development organisation. I get all the information I need from Fokke and he is always there for me when I need him. We also have a very strong organisation in Retail Development,” says Tiina.
What is a store activity?
- At least every six years, each JYSK store is refreshed with a so-called store activity.
- A store activity can be building a new store, moving it to a better location, rearranging the layout or updating it to a new concept.
- The Store Concept Managers and their teams are responsible for store activities in the different countries.
300 activities every year
As Retail Concept Manager, Fokke Been is in charge of an international team of around 100 colleagues.
Together, they do around 300 store activities every year, which includes building new stores as well as moving, rearranging and updating existing stores.
“I travel a lot to the different countries to make sure that all the practical experiences and good advice from the stores are brought back to the Retail Development organisation at the head office. In this way, we can keep improving the conceptual standards and thereby the customer experience,” says Fokke, who began his JYSK career as Store Manager in the Netherlands ten years ago.
Improving store concepts
At least every six years, each JYSK store is refreshed. Sometimes that means moving a store to a better location. Other times it means updating it to the newest concept, for instance Store Concept 3.0.
Working with new concepts is also one of Tiina’s favourite parts of her job.
“We have already built new Store Concept 3.0 stores, and soon we will start building city stores in Finland. It is nice to cooperate with my colleagues in Scandinavia and in Europe and always improve attractive stores in JYSK,” says Tiina.
