Our first store opening in Romania - How (not) to open a brick-and-mortar store in 48 hours

This is how long I had at my disposal to open the first brick-and-mortar store for our Mad shoes brand.

 

I reached out to the shopping mall asking for a pop-up space (of 10-20 sqm) for a few weeks, and I ended up opening a regular store, 80 sqm, for 6 months. I only had 48 hours to paint, furnish, and prepare it for opening.

The way I approached this monumental job was to treat it like one of my regular marketing projects/campaigns and to project manage it as best as I could.

The 80 sq meters are located right in the middle of the mall, surrounded by luxurious jewellery and clothing brands, which meant that I couldn’t settle for anything less than extraordinary.

(Anxiety levels rising significantly….)

Within 18 days, I had to
📍Hire 2 full-time employees (thank you, LinkedIn network!)
📍Learn to operate a cash register
📍Open up a new point of activity with the authorities
📍Come up with a store concept that would fit both story and budget
📍Order the furniture (thank you, Black Friday)
📍Design, order and then receive almost 200 pairs of stilettos and boots
📍Design shoe accessories that are both timeless and christmassy
📍Find a contractor that would help paint the place in less than 48 hours
📍Assemble the furniture
📍Arrange the merchandise
📍Open up to the public

I still haven’t found the right carpet, but I guess not all things can be perfect.

And of course the stock was not ready on time; the glass for the accessories was late to arrive from Spain for the first time in 2 years; I caught a massive cold on the eve of the opening.

But the idea is that it was possible and it was doable and in spite of the additional white hairs I’ve grown during these past 3 weeks, I always felt the excitement of the whole thing surrounding me.

What helped massively during the process was talking to basically everyone I knew.

I went to a former colleague of mine at the university and held a class for her students one morning, and ended up recruiting one of our future team members right at the end of class.

I told friends and family about my plans - and they all made a suggestion regarding potential collaborators, furniture, and associates who helped me pull everything off in the end.

Reach out to your network! Accept the help! Tell everyone and their mother when/if you are struggling. There is good in the world, and the magic of the holidays can make the impossible happen.