Jan Heere: 'Our objective is to double the business'
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Fashion
Fashion United: What are you key objectives as the top manager of Kira Plastinina?
Jan Heere: My goal is to create a leading international brand that is able to compete with leading global fashion houses while claiming its Russian identity.
How will your background with Inditex and Marks & Spencer in Russia help?
My long-time experience with European retail brands has allowed me to consolidate the best practices to manage retail chains in Russia. We definitely plan to implement many of these tools at Kira Plastinina Style.
At this moment, we are thoroughly analyzing the current situation of the holding with the team; we are evaluating possibilities and development prospects in order to indentify the most efficient practices for the fashion house that are also acceptable in today’s market reality.
Why did you decide to move from a western company to a Russian company?
I have known about Kira Plastinina and her company for a long time. I met Kira in Moscow when she was 15, together with her father Sergei Plastinin. And it was a big honor for me to dine with them. We talked about retail; I told them about my Spanish experience and they shared information about their new business. And already then, I understood that it was a fantastic and important initiative, particular at that time.
As the Russian manager for Zara at that time, I often heard that Russia was not a very fashionable market. 'Yes, there is money but no real fashion' I heard. And all the time I had to explain to my colleagues from the head office that they were wrong.
Russia has become a modern platform for business and even then, Moscow was quickly transforming. I was convinced back in January 2006 that Moscow would become a trendsetter at an international level. Looking at current offers from various fashion retailers and the overall retail landscape today, I know that I was right.
But what was always missing was a strong Russian player who would stand up in the fashion world and become the fashion industry's Russian ambassador. And I think that Kira Plastinina has taken this place. I am very happy to join the company as its CEO and I will work with the entire team to bring the company up to a new level of growth.
The company has been developing successfully. The retail chain has been expanding rapidly with the total number of points of sale being 335, out of which 279 are Kira Plastinina Style Studios and 56 are LUBLU Kira Plastinina stores. The stores are not only located in Russia, but also in the CIS countries, namely Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Moldova and Azerbaijan. LUBLU Kira Plastinina is present in 16 countries, including the USA.
It is a great honor for me to head Kira Plastinina. I have been following the development of the business for a long time, which initially was perceived rather skeptically and criticized before it evolved into a leading manufacturer of clothing and accessories for young women.
I consider the brand Kira Plastinina the flagship of the Russian fashion industry and a perfect example for confirming the existence of the country's apparel fashion market.
The company’s short-term growth plans are to continue its expansion in the CIS markets, to enhance the quality control of its production, to improve customer service and to develop personnel motivation programs. We will also focus on corporate social responsibility programs and support charities and social initiatives. Guided by current retail trends, we also plan to develop and adapt the strategy of omnichannel sales.
What are the company’s developmental plans in the near future? What are the changes announced with your appointment?
We have analyzed and looked for new opportunities for the business and understood that there are many things that can be improved. We also think that we have additional opportunities and hope that the economy will start growing.
We have already started thinking about the foundations of our growth and I think that the Kira Plastinina Fashion House will double its business in the coming 3-4 years and will become a global omnichannel retailer.
We have analyzed the situation and identified our growth potential, for example that of our Chinese office. Today, only about 15 percent of the production is happening in Russia, the rest in China. We have explored a cluster of suppliers and will roll it out to a bigger number of countries. Using our office in China, we will be able to diversify suppliers in various countries, especially in the Far East.
And since our aim is to double the business, we will also need to double the production at our factory in Russia. I am convinced that we can produce clothes of excellent quality here, make them fast and offer them to our customers in Moscow. This will be our strategic advantage when growing the business. All these programs and the growth plan have already been worked out, launched and implemented.
Another business area where we see great opportunities for is an improvement in distribution. If we look at the successful fashion retailers today, they all manage their goods as if they were dealing with food products – 'always offer fresh products' is their mantra, this is what will gain customer loyalty.
We have also been analyzing the renewal of our range and how fast we ar delivering new styles to stores. And here we are not only talking about growing the number of our customers and sales but also about an increase in profit margins.
Another priority is to make sure that we have good personnel - a team that is focused on the future and that will bring the company up to a new level of growth. I am joining the company today and we have already started the work, deciding whether to attract local talent or to bring foreign experts to the team.
We have a new CFO joining us – Timur Makoev. He worked at Tom Tailor and Inditex and is thus used to the fashion world and international financial procedures.
Do you think Russian producers are affected by the political and economical changes in the country?
Of course, we are all aware of the economic slow down, not only in Russia but across the world. If we look at the impact of the sanctions on Russian consumers, it is clear that their confidence has been impacted. We can also see the pressure on the ruble. The information from malls shows a reduction of traffic by 15-20 percent. If we look at the situation over the recent months, there is a feeling that sales will decrease.
Perhaps there is an influence of the seasonal factor here too – when the weather is good, people prefer to spend time in the country side rather than go shopping. From the production point of view, the company does not feel any influence from the sanctions. We continue producing and delivering goods from our manufactures. We produce part of our apparel in China and the other part in Russia. So we do not see any particular influence on us from the western sanctions.
Where is the Kira Plastinina brand placed in the Russian mass market?
Kira Plastinina is the representative of the Russian fashion industry with leading positions in the domestic market of women’s fashion clothing and accessories.
What is the company's short-term business plan? What new regions do you plan to develop? And what are financial results for the two years after the opening of the company's own production facility in Russia?
First of all, our priority is the domestic market. There are almost 200 stores in Russia but there is still room to grow here. For example, there are even locations in Moscow where we still want to open stores, though we already have a good presence here. It is certainly a very important market when it comes to approaching Russian consumers. I am convinced that we will see a strong growth here and we will continue investing in Russia as the domestic market will remain our priority.
On the international front, we are already present in seven countries, with our own retail stores under the Kira Plastinina brand making up 90 percent and partner stores 10 percent of all stores.
Our expansion priorities are the CIS countries and we are interested in developing both directions of the distribution chain. If we believe that we can open more than five stores in one country, we enter with a chain; and for markets with not that many large shopping centers, we find partners.
Compared to the company’s performance in 2010, the largest increase in turnover was recorded in 2012-2013. In 2012, the turnover grew by more than 100 percent and in 2013 by 23 percent. No doubt this success is also driven by the opening of the factory in Ozery. The launch of our production facility allowed us to optimize the production cycle, to be more flexible in responding to the volatile consumer demand and thus to positively impact sales.
Fashion United: What are your expectations from the appointment of foreign executive Jan Heere? What do you look forward to and what made you decide to appoint him as CEO?
Kira Plastinina: Our company is at a new stage of development, and currently Jan's particular expertise and experience is in demand. We are sure that with Jan joining the company, it will achieve new heights and new levels.
Jan Heere is an efficient manager in international retail. Under his guidance, the biggest global businesses have achieved significant success. Thanks to his extensive experience with leading brands, we will be able to bring Kira Plastinina up to a new level of growth.
What are the main tasks of your team at this moment? Do you plan to change or improve the development strategy?
Our aim is to use an integrated approach to create a consumer experience through all available international channels of sales and communication.
What are your plans in terms of expanding your production?
One of our goals is to definitely develop production in Russia and we will continue working on this. We will gradually grow our capacities at the factory.
What are you working on at the moment as a designer?
Currently, we are working on the Kira Plastinina and LUBLU Kira Plastinina fall collections for the next year and also at the new store concept, the Kira Plastinina Style Studios.
According to recent reports, you started an MBA at Columbia University; can you tell us a bit about this?
It is not enough for a designer to know how to create collections. It is equally important to have a granular understanding of all business processes. You need to know how to drive your fashion business, what the objectives are of your development, the tools to finetune the operations of your retail chain and to set up effective promotion strategies.
Photos: Galina Utesheva, FashionUnited