RETAIL AREA MANAGER Italy and France - LUXURY BRAND (Milan)

From Luxe Talent, International Recruitment and Training Consultancy specialised in Fashion, Luxury, Retail and FMCG, for one of our clients, a famous luxury Brand, we are looking for a Retail Area Manager Italy and France, based in Milan  travelling to stores across the regions.

In our recruitment and training consultancy, we work with different firms in the Luxury, Premium and High Premium sectors around Europe and have offices in Barcelona, Madrid, Paris, Milan and Munich.

RESPONSIBILITIES AS RETAIL AREA MANAGER ITALY AND FRANCE:

Reporting to the Retail Director EMEA, the role of Area Manager is to support our continued growth and development as we expand into the región and also providing the retail teams and stores with a stimulating and supportive environment while maintaining and increasing standards of customer service and other areas across the stores.

Commercial responsibilities:

• Providing leadership and support to Store Managers in the area and teams to maximise sales and growth in each location
• To oversee new store openings and store refurbishments within the region and identify new business opportunities within the region, but also for existing stores.
• Support the Retail Director EMEA on any rent negotiations, new deal negotiations and contract renewals
• Responsible for setting, measuring and helping teams to achieve sales and KPI targets within the region in line with company goals.
• Work closely with Department stores within the zone in which the company have concessions ensuring constructive and collaborative relationships
• Working with the EMEA Marketing team to identify marketing opportunities and roll out marketing initiatives with a focus on maximising sales potential and brand recognition
• Ensure that all CRM strategies and on-going programs including client acquisition, client retention and customer database management are effectively carried out and maintained across the region
• Develop a deep understanding of the customer base in the region, know the key clients, understand customer trends and the specific needs of the market
• To have an regular communication with the VM team and ensure that needs of the market are reflected within the VM directives in order to ensure they understand and adhere to our visual merchandising guidelines, as well as ensuring VM champions in store are well trained and supported
• Support store teams on the shop floor as required

Finance and Operations responsibilities:

• Support the Retail Director EMEA with the regional store P&Ls, focusing on increasing profitability and driving business results
• Carefully manage store operating costs within budgets
• Ensure that all retail stores in the region are fully compliant with financial, HR, legal and retail operation rules and procedures with a view to ensuring operational excellence
• Work with the store teams to ensure that all retail stores in the region are trained in stock control procedures and then adhere to them to prevent any inventory slippage and so we can ensure that we have accurate inventory stock holdings
• Work with Store Managers to manage maintenance issues within the retail stores and ensure they are resolved swiftly and in line with budget
• Identify and help resolve any Health & Safety and legal issues that might arise
• Ensure that the flow of goods into and out of the store from a logistics perspective is seamless and is structured to best support the needs of the store.

People management responsibilities:

• Recruit, train, and develop a strong Retail Management team ensuring all positions are filled in a timely manner with experienced and talented recruits, driving a culture of excellence across all retail activities
• In partnership with the regional HR team, support Store Managers and Assistant Managers with capability and performance issues, raising line managers competence in dealing with employee relations issues and performance and ensuring that the Retail team are able to recruit a ‘best in class’ team of Sales Associates
• Provide detailed feedback to direct reports on performance and development areas
• Ensure all HR issues are dealt with in a timely and effective manner in line with guidance provided by the HR team