Antonis Kyprianou, Tendam: "We are pursuing a more aggressive franchising strategy"

The Spanish Tendam Group, one of Europe's leading omni-channel groups in the specialised fashion sector and the second in the Spanish market by market share, as well as parent company of brands such as Cortefiel, Pedro del Hierro, Springfield or Women'secret, has announced the opening of five new physical shops in Latin America. The announcement was made at the World Retail Congress (WRC) which kicked off in Barcelona, Spain, today.

FashionUnited spoke to Antonis Kyprianou, the Group's General Manager of Franchising, about the company's strategy at the congress.

The executive explained during the conversation with FashionUnited that although they are determined to grow in different regions, Latin America is currently one of Tendam's main and most important focuses as, together with the Middle East, it is one of the areas with the greatest potential and which best responds to their international efforts. /p>

For the future, they also have their sights set on Africa, which is not very well understood by the retail sector and therefore offers little competition and many possibilities to be explored.

As to whether they are going to concentrate their growth strategy on franchises or on their own shops, he explains that these are two completely different strategies and that the latter is more focused on continuing to grow in already consolidated markets. "In franchising we have a more aggressive growth strategy".

So what are they looking for in a franchisee? "A financially solid company, with retail experience and [most importantly] that is willing to align itself with our strategy", because without this last factor they don't consider the project to be worthwhile.

New points of sale in Mexico, Ecuador, Paraguay and Venezuela

Women'secret, the group's brand specialising in women's lingerie and corsetry, has opened new stores in Mexico, Ecuador and Paraguay, while Springfield, with its urban, cosmopolitan, natural and casual character, has added a new store in Ecuador and another in Venezuela to its commercial footprint on the continent, bringing its total number of stores in Latin America to 123.

Two of the Women'secret openings were in Mexico, Tendam's main Latin American market which adds up to 57 points of sale in the country.

For the third store opening Tendam Group has chosen Machala, Ecuador where a Springfield corner was also recently opened. This brings the total points of sale in Ecuador to 30 points while Women'secret's stands at 15 points of sale in the same market.

In addition to its new corner, Springfield has also opened a shop located in one of the most prestigious areas of Caracas, the capital of Venezuela.

This article was originally published on FashionUnited.ES and has been translated and edited into English by Veerle Versteeg.

The interview was conducted in person by Paula V.Pinagua during the World Retail Congress 2023.