Ablos Retail School Brazil starts new classes and expands course range

The first batch of students have graduated from the extension course Retail Management at the Ablos Retail School in Brazil. Ablos Retail School is an initiative by the Brazilian Association of Satellite Storekeepers in partnership with the educational centre Centro Universitário Assunção and Unifai, one of the educational branches of the Sao Paulo Foundation. Unifai is the same centre that sponsors the Catholic Pontifical University of Sao Paulo, PUC/SP.

Given the success of the course among shopkeepers and managers, its next edition has already been scheduled for the second week of March. In addition to the second group of the course for managers, the course for salespeople (Retail Attendance Training) will also begin, aimed at sales staff in shopping and street shops throughout Brazil, with online registration and classes.

"The courses were developed remotely, with some practical classes in laboratory shops and where there are no, guided tours can be made to take the school all over Brazil. Our goal is to reach a large number, not only managers and sellers who are already in retail, as those who want to enter the market" explains Mauro Francis, president of Ablos. "We want to train employees with skills to act and intervene in their field of work, focusing on results, which is a necessity of the sector", the executive details.

Our goal is to reach professionals who are already in retail and those who intend to enter the market

"Both courses aim to enable professionals in the fashion retail market to develop skills for sales and activities aimed at the reality of everyday retail shopping, in addition to preparing them to operate in a meaningful and strategic way, bringing results that benefit everyone. For three months theoretical and practical content will be covered so those who want a significant and promising career can improve their skills," professor Valeria Batista, pro-rector of Graduate Studies of Unifai, said.

The content will consist of 98 percent live online classes, and 2 percent face-to-face classes, taught in a "lab shop", with practical classes. Apart from São Paulo, in partnership with associated retailers, shops will be set up in strategic capitals and if the student is in another location where they do not have the laboratory shops, guided tours will be conducted simultaneously.

"It is important to know the products, the customers' profile, to understand the importance of knowing how the shop should be organised, with pieces separated by size, colours and models. In addition, one must be aware of the problems that wrong labelling can cause when taking inventory, the importance of VM (visual merchandising), and know how to hire teams with the right profile. Finally, retail workers most understand the objective of the sales goals, the importance of thinking strategically among other fundamental processes for the good performance of these professionals, all things which were discussed to prepare the pupils," Daniela Archanjo, executive director of Ablos and responsible for developing the project with the Unifai, explained.

According to the latest survey conducted by the retail sector in Brazil, the country has 628 shopping malls. 15 more will open their doors in 2023, adding up to more than 115,000 shops total throughout Brazil. Those interested can register for the project on the Unifai website.

This article was originally published on FashionUnited.BR. Translation and editing from Portuguese into English by Veerle Versteeg.