Retail makeover: Roland Armbruster

The explosion of online shopping has transformed the retail landscape forever, with many traditional department stores shuttering their doors in the face of digital competition and many household names left reeling. Only those who have adapted to the modern consumer have survived this shake-up of the industry.

No-one understands this better than Manor CEO Roland Armbruster, who was headhunted last year to catapult one of Switzerland’s largest department store chains, consisting of 59 stores, into the modern age – both offline and online.

With 20 years of retail experience at the helm of some of Europe’s leading department stores like KaDeWe and Karstadt in Germany, De Bijenkorf in the Netherlands and COIN in Italy, Armbruster was seen as the perfect choice for Manor.

"It’s about transforming companies in order to do better," he says. "Nowadays, you do not say restructuring anymore, but basically it is about bringing traditional retailers into the modern world, both offline and online. Basically, this has been the red thread of my career so far."

Fashion forward

Since taking on the role, Armbruster has met the challenge head-on, outlining three pillars of growth and modernization.

The largest opportunity for expansion lies in the fashion business of the mid to premium-market department store, which offers a variety of product categories including beauty, food, fashion, accessories and homeware.

Alongside upgrading the look and feel of the top 12 stores over the next three-to-four years, the plan is to introduce new brands and bolster existing ones, so customers will get to enjoy a completely new shopping experience in-store.

"We want to present our products in a more attractive, inspirational and accessible way for our customers," he says.

"We are already doing a good job as a leading beauty destination and in food, but there is room for improvement in the fashion area."

The company’s own brands – designed in-house and manufactured mainly in Asia – make up 25 percent of its non-food products and are being primed for a boost and fresh makeover.

"Our customers like our private labels, and now we are refocusing on renewing our private label in terms of style, quality and price," Armbruster adds.

Food for thought

The second pillar of the strategy is to invest in the food business, which is renowned for fresh, high-quality, locally sourced products. Going forward, there will be more focus on developing the food departments in stores within the Romandie (French-speaking) and Ticino (Italian-speaking) regions, along with preparing food in front of customers and investing in the supermarket and collaborations.

"Our customers appreciate fresh food and high quality; they are willing to pay a premium for it," Armbruster explains. "They especially like that the product is made in front of them for takeout for example, but also that the fish and meat is ultra-fresh."

The third pillar of change will take place away from the shop floor and involve a digitalization of the headquarters and the entire value chain of the company to improve efficiency. Another focus area is to redesign the digital touchpoints and to ensure that the website manor.ch and the customer app are user-friendly and visually appealing – making shopping not just convenient but also inspiring.

As part of this drive, the firm’s staggering one million stock keeping units will be shrunk, allowing Manor to offer customers better quality products.

"The idea really is to reduce the maturity, the number of suppliers down to a lower level and intensify the discussion and get more depth with the products," he says.

Switching the wholesale model to a concession model – where each brand will bring its own employees and products – is also expected to stimulate growth.

Financial goals and growth are only one part of Armbruster’s strategy in a fast-moving industry, where consumers are continuously evolving. He understands modern shoppers are increasingly concerned about environmentally sustainable practices, to which Manor is committed and set on the right path; Armbruster details that most food suppliers should not be further than 30 kilometers away from the store and food must be locally produced.

In the fashion sector, the firm is aiming for 50–80 percent bio cotton, especially for its private labels.

With Manor’s transformation fully underway, Armbruster remains confident about the future of the department store, which he believes will continue to outshine its competitors thanks to its diverse shop floor, where everyone is welcome, and its unique food offerings, which can’t be found anywhere else in Switzerland.