”I am helping lay the foundation for JYSK in Belgium”

Elske de Graaf is the name of one of the two very first Store Managers in Belgium. The goal for her is success and the method is hard work.

For Elske, it was a decisive factor in applying for the job as Store Manager that she would have the opportunity to be involved in launching JYSK in Belgium.

"I really like the idea that I am helping to lay the foundation for JYSK in Belgium. If we do well in my store, we create a good foundation for future stores, so that JYSK can succeed and open many stores here as in other countries," she says.

At JYSK we are equal

Elske started her new job in December 2016. During the first few months, she crossed the border between Belgium and Holland on a daily basis to get to work – the store in Eindhoven in the Netherlands was where Elske received her training as a Store Manager.

Elske says that the training has been instructive, and that in several areas she can draw on her previous experience as a Store Manager in one of Belgium's biggest toy chains. But particularly in one area, JYSK is markedly different from her previous jobs.

"The boss is the boss: that is the way it is in Belgium. You do not call your boss by their first name, and there is a strict hierarchy. But in JYSK, this is different. It has been a bit of an eye-opener," says Elske, adding: "I am an open-minded person and I like to be equal with my colleagues, so it is a positive experience that this is what the culture is like at JYSK."

A great store

At the moment, Elske and her colleagues are hard at work preparing the store in Genk to make it ready for the opening on April 5th.

"It is a bit surreal, but fun to be a part of building the store from scratch. It is me and my team’s store, so it just has to be good," says Elske.

Check back to GOJYSK.com next week to meet Yannick Eelen, who is the other of Belgium's first two Store Managers.