Retail Director

Pink Gellac makes salon-quality gel nail polish available to everyone. After a one-off investment in a manicure set, customers can apply gel polish indefinitely – in the comfort of their own homes. The entrepreneurial Retail Director will set up and implement the commercial strategy for existing and new offline sales channels, at home and abroad.

About Pink Gellac

Salon-quality gel polish that lasts for at least fourteen days, but can be done at home for a fraction of the price of a professional manicure: that is the promise of Pink Gellac, a fast-growing beauty brand. With more than two hundred and fifty colors, customers can order the gel polish, and accompanying LED lamp and tools online, in one of the twelve stores, or at a third-party retailer, such as Bijenkorf. An expensive, biweekly visit to a nail salon can be eliminated thanks to ultimate manicures that can be done at home.

The D2C model from Pink Gellac leans on two pillars. They have an online-first strategy, with around seventy percent turnover on the website and marketplaces. And their retail stores also contribute to a strong and reliable brand. However, these stores certainly aren’t just for marketing. Their annual turnover continues to exceed expectations, making the stores profitable as well. Both channels reinforce each other and this successful dynamic is the key to Pink Gellac’s success.

This was recently confirmed again, as Pink Gellac won two Retailer of the Year awards for both its webshop and retail chain, in the Health & Beauty category. With their recently developed Social Impact Strategy, the company also meets high standards of sustainability and society.

The brand has eight stores in The Netherlands, three in Belgium, and one in France. Next month, Pink Gellac will open its fourth Belgian store in Brussels. The company is the market leader in The Netherlands and Belgium and their strategy is to continue expanding across Europe. With the support of Vendis Capital, which joined in 2021, there is room to invest in expansion. For a proof-of-concept outside the Benelux and further EBITDA growth, focusing even more on attracting commercial opportunities outside the online D2C channel will be key. This will be the goal of the Retail Director.

Vacancy: Retail Director

The Retail Director will be responsible for all D2C sales in Pink Gellac’s stores. This includes both expansion and management of existing points of sale. The Retail Director will also reveal additional commercial opportunities.

Expansion
Setting up new stores at home and abroad, the Retail Director is involved at every step, from scouting locations to rebuilding the interiors. The choice of where stores will be located is made in consultation with the CEO/CFO and the shareholder Vendis, with an ongoing focus on premium locations. But that is only the beginning, as the brand is still largely in its infancy — especially for the new locations outside the Benelux.

The Retail Director makes an important contribution to the strategy to ensure that stores in, for example, France, Germany, and the UK become as successful as those in the home market. They use the formula that is already successful in the Benelux, yet understand that a different approach may be needed in other countries. Data-driven and with their deep commercial insight, the Retail Director manages the launches in these countries. They work closely with the rest of the Management Team, including the Chief Digital Officer and Chief Brand and Product Officer, as the synergy between offline and online will play a major role in new locations.

Mapping new collaborations with retailers such as department stores, and salons will eventually fall under the Director’s responsibility. They will map out commercial opportunities and develop a business case to convince the CEO and the rest of the team of a plan, and then implement it at every step. 

Existing stores
In addition, the Retail Director oversees, all existing stores. They do so indirectly, via a Retail Manager who reports to them. Although the shops are running very well, there is room for strategic development and entrepreneurship in this area.

This is how the Retail Director examines where and when it makes sense to expand or deviate from the standard formula of the stores, such as organizing events or workshops for customers or offering demonstrations.

“The Retail Director looks at the existing store concept with a commercial and strategic view, identifies opportunities to strengthen both the sales and marketing functions of the stores, presents these with good substantiation, and then ensures the implementation of initiatives.” – Thera Strietman, CEO of Pink Gellac 

This role combines a unique challenge to an entrepreneurial professional with commercial insight and experience with successful retail brands. It requires a data-driven, analytical approach, but also an entrepreneurial drive as this role identifies opportunities and take them on, in a range of domains. The Retail Director will be crucial for expanding the success of Pink Gellac in the coming years and will join the Management Team.

Interested?

Pink Gellac is working with Top of Minds to fill this vacancy.
To express your interest, please contact Janko Klaeijsen at janko.klaeijsen@topofminds.com