"We design and build our stores"

What is it that Retail Development does? In a series of articles, we will investigate what the department responsible for JYSK's store concepts is actually doing.

On the 1st floor in JYSK's head office in Brabrand, Denmark, the Retail Development department take up four offices.

The man responsible for the department, which consists of 17 employees, is Carsten Nørgreen Weinkouff, whose title, appropriately enough, is Retail Development Director.

But what exactly does Retail Development do?

"We design and build our stores, and we basically buy everything that is not for sale in the store. We make sure that the store concept is constantly supporting our brand DNA and presenting our product range in the best possible way," explains Carsten.

Three different concepts

Today, JYSK actually works with three different store concepts, all of which belong to Retail Development.

Basic 2.0 is the well-known concept, found in the vast majority of existing stores. In addition, there is a city store concept that is used for smaller stores in shopping malls.

And then there is the Store Concept 3.0, which is the new concept, which will be implemented in approximately ​​25 stores during 2018.

Time for a face lift

The new store concept was introduced in the autumn of 2017 to improve the experience of visiting one of the chain’s stores.

"The current JYSK concept dates back to 2001, so in a number of areas it was time for a face lift. Customers in all countries expect more of the shopping experience than what we can deliver today with the existing concept," explains Carsten.

In the long run, the ambition is that the new concept will completely replace the current one.

"In my view, our new concept also needs to allow the purchasing department to present a broader assortment and price range in our stores. If we in Retail Development can contribute to that, I think we are really successful with the project," says Carsten.

Local people in countries

One thing the three concepts have in common is that the general principles of operation have the same starting point. This uniformity enables Retail Development and the rest of JYSK to work efficiently with the store concepts across borders.

"In each country, we have a local representative of the department, our Store Concept Manager, usually called SCM. The SCM’s are our eyes and ears in each country, and they are the ones you can contact if you have questions or ideas for Retail Development," says Carsten.

The SCM’s refer to Fokke Been, Retail Concept Manager, who spends some of his working hours at the head office in Brabrand, where he presents and discusses suggestions and feedback from local representatives with the rest of Retail Development.