Icelanders gather inspiration in Denmark

It was 12 bright and bushy colleagues from JYSK Franchise in Iceland who stepped through the door of JYSK’s ultra-modern distribution centre in Uldum in April: ready to get a feel for the case with a guided tour of the warehouse led by Quality Coordinator Morten Andersen.

Among the 12 colleagues from Iceland was Country Manager Magnus Sigurdsson. For six of his co-workers it was the first time they had visited JYSK in Denmark. He had not seen the warehouse in Uldum himself since 2008, and a lot has happened since then

“It was very interesting to see the warehouse and the various job stations. It makes it easier for all of us to understand the work processes that lie behind the delivery of products to the stores,” said Magnus. 

SIXTH STORE ON THE WAY 

After the tour of the distribution centre, Franchise Director Frederik Kroun had arranged a surprise outside of the distribution centre. To the sound of the Icelandic national anthem, the visitors were introduced to the Danish duvet manufacturer Dykon, who had driven up in a yellow caravan and arranged a “pillow fight” and a guessing contest about duvets.

The winner of the guessing contest was Hallur Eiriksson, who has been Assistant Manager in Iceland for ten years. He becomes Store Manager in June, when the seventh JYSK Franchise store opens in Iceland in Reykjavik. So it was especially interesting to him when the visit continued from Uldum to two Danish JYSK stores, where the visitors could gather inspiration. 

During both the tour of the warehouse and in the stores, the Icelanders were quick to document their visit with photos on their mobile phones. Despite Store Manager Ivar Ivarsson managing the largest JYSK store in Iceland with 6,600 square metres to run, he found much to inspire him in the Danish JYSK stores. 

“This is the first time I have visited JYSK in Denmark, and I have got a lot of good ideas to take home with me. These include ideas about price signage and the staging of furniture in small settings, which I also use in my own store,” said Ivar, who has worked at JYSK for 11 years.

FREES UP TIME FOR THE FINER DETAILS

This was exactly what Franchise Director Frederik Kroun had hoped the Icelanders would gain from the visit when he arranged it. 

“Images and visual impressions from the stores we have visited provide more than I can say with a thousand words when I visit them.  Which is why I open up the machine room, and I hope that they fish out everything they can use and take it all home with them. So we can concentrate instead on the finer details when I pay a visit to them,” said Frederik Kroun as the visit drew to a close.