GPoland looking to expand at home and abroad

How has the GPoland concept been received on the Polish market?

Tomasz Wasiucionek, commercial director, GPoland: At GPoland we develop a whole range of mono-brand concepts, the best examples of which are outlets such as Liu Jo, Pinko, Patrizia Pepe and Twin Set. Our latest original project is the ‘Made in G’ concept. We offer the option to our partners of a multi-brand outlet, where everyone is able to pick and choose a few brands from our agency’s portfolio – all this in an individually prepared architectural design characteristic for the chain, which is now growing. The concept is a response to the market demand, while its variety and rich brand offer have led to us receiving more and more inquiries, not only from partners but also from shopping centres themselves. Made in G outlets are now operating in Radom, Olsztyn, Elbląg and Kraków. Future openings are planned in Bydgoszcz and Opole over the next few months. We would like to have opened around twenty boutiques by the end of 2017.

What is the general development strategy of the company for this and the next year?

Growth is the key word. We are developing in terms of the structure, such as extending our showroom to 5,000 sqm a few months ago, as well widening our range of clothing, footwear and denim brands. We have recently added brands such as Elisabetta Franchi, Luisa Spagnoli, Pollini, ATPCO, Kocca and Rinascimento. We also want our retail partners to develop with the help our experience, and so we have recently set up our GPoland Retail Academy for regular training sessions in the fields of sales psychology, visual merchandising and shop and staff management. In our opinion we absolutely need to focus on the quality. And we haven’t ruled out expansion to the countries neighbouring Poland.

How many shops were opened last year?

In 2014 we opened a total of 15 new shops, including three mono-brand shops, Manila Grace, Luisa Spagnioli and Twin-Set, two ‘Made in G’ stores and nine partner multi-brand boutiques. Thus we have extended the range of the brands in markets such as Łódź, Warsaw, Olsztyn, Radom, Lubin, Leszno, Kalisz, Wrocław, Płock, Szczecin, Poznań, Tarnów and Krosno.

What is the average area of the shops?

Depending on the individual brand, we franchise mono-brand clothing stores with areas ranging from 80 sqm to 120 sqm. Our ‘Made in G’ multi-brand boutiques are between 70 sqm and 140 sqm, while in the case of clothing, footwear and accessories brands the area is 50–70 sqm for. Subject to the location, our partner multi-brand shops are mainly opened over areas ranging from 70 sqm to 90 sqm.

Which brands are you planning to offer?

We will certainly be introducing more clothing and footwear brands to Poland. We are planning to continue to develop not only in the premium sector, but also to interest customers in our pronto fashion offer. We also believe that the Polish range of what’s on offer in the denim segment is definitely too limited. Details of our plans will be made available soon.

What are the average fees for GPoland’s franchisees?

The fact that the franchisees of GPoland do not have to pay any fees or preliminary, licensing or marketing payments for joining the chain is a very significant factor, which has a positive influence on the trust our company enjoys. GPoland’s business partners only pay a single fee for adapting their units to the chain’s requirements; however, we often participate in the fit-outs . It is worth noting that we do not charge any licence fees but we train the staff free of charge, we help franchisees stock their outlets and we take care of the marketing of the boutiques. We want the relations between the seller and the buyer to be one of cooperation between partners. GPoland is responsible for introducing international clothing, footwear and accessory brands from the premium sector to the Polish market. The company currently cooperates with 32 brands from the ready to wear, denim, footwear and accessories and handbag segments, in both women’s and men’s collections.