Design of Europe, a global fashion company out of Sweden, has brought LOGIC on board to help it set up shop for the first time in Mzansi.
And not just by managing the opening events for the brand's 30 stores fanning out across South Africa over the next four years. "Putting down roots in a foreign country is no easy task," says Michelle Janse van Rensburg, LOGIC's operations director. "We plan to make Design of Europe's task that much simpler however, with our new service: holistic retail consulting."
LOGIC has extensive experience in the retail environment, making it perfectly positioned to offer this service. Janse van Rensburg has extensive senior-management and VIP-customer-service experience in both the local and international retail sectors, while Thato Garekoe and Shale Modiba, who head up LOGIC's in-house event staffing division TRIBE, have substantial experience in profiling, recruiting and training teams for retail brands.
"We'll be giving Design of Europe insights into everything from what the local markets are doing, what type of brands perform best and what is currently missing on the SA fashion scene, to knowledge on practical matters such as dealing with in-store music rights, setting up returns policies, and referring suppliers for POS systems, branding, and shopfitting," says Janse van Rensburg.
In short, whatever Design of Europe needs to get up and running. And that extends to full staff complements for each new store.
STAFFING THE STORES
TRIBE has been appointed to handle all the staffing requirements for the Design of Europe stores. It has already recruited a full team for the flagship store, opening on 24 October 2012 at the Brooklyn Mall, and is now busy finding staff for the Maponya Mall store.
TRIBE's "HR design" for each store begins with creating salary structures and organograms, writing role profiles for each position and drawing up contracts.
After sourcing and profiling suitable candidates, TRIBE runs recruitment days where potential employees are interviewed. It strategises with top management on which positions would be suitable for each individual, and then manages the contract signing with successful candidates.
Finally, TRIBE will train and facilitate hand-over of each team before the store openings.
