Smash your targets and impress your past self. (Grit & Glamour: Epi.4)

Have you ever felt like you were punching a waterfall? Keep pushing.

Previously:

Fourteen months after joining the apparel company, I was assigned to transfer to the Shibuya store. Having been the manager in Ginza, I expected the same position in Shibuya, but the president told us, “You decide the store manager among yourselves.” The previous manager was unable to boost sales, leading to low staff morale. Eventually, it was decided that I would become the store manager. Though the president told me to manage freely, sales remained flat. I turned to business books to learn leadership skills and worked on improving the store. By encouraging an unmotivated staff member to resign and enhancing the store environment, the atmosphere gradually began to change.

2.4 Delegation of Authority

With the resignation of one staff member, we were left without a CD sales manager. Without someone in charge, the CD section would become neglected. Since the CD corner occupied about one-third of the Shibuya store, it was a crucial role. Conversely, having a stylish and cool CD corner with poor sales felt like a waste, as if we weren’t leveraging what we had. Therefore, I decided to use the “delegation skills” I learned in my previous job to assign the most suitable person to this role.

During a break one day, I approached Mr.K, a young man in his early twenties, and asked, “Would you take on the CD manager role?” I had observed his work ethic; he was meticulous and even proficient with Photoshop in 2004. Additionally, his background in acting gave him a unique aura. My intuition told me he was the right person for the job. When I asked, he readily agreed.

He immediately started organizing the CD section, checking sales, and creating POP displays. His active involvement was evident to me. As he focused his efforts, CD sales saw a significant increase! Witnessing how attention and effort could transform the world, I felt hopeful about the potential for the Shibuya store’s sales growth.

2.5 Shop Research with the President

One autumn day, the president visited the Shibuya store for the first time in a while. After a tour of the store, he called me to the large show window. “The window display here looks like a school play,” he quietly remarked.

At that moment, I felt my face flush. The display was created by the VMD staff, not me, but ultimately it was my responsibility. I lacked the skills to create the display and had no choice but to leave it to her. I couldn’t even judge what was good or bad, let alone provide feedback, which was akin to ignoring the issue altogether.

“Why is a VOGUE magazine placed here?” the president continued. It was an autumn display, but the magazine was just placed on a tree stump. There were only three mannequins dressed in autumn clothes around it. The window display did indeed resemble a school play. I could only nod in agreement with his accurate observation.

Then the president said, “Let’s go to 109.” His words surprised me. 109 is a hub for teenage fashion, entirely different from our target audience at Shibuya. I wondered what we could learn from such a different place.

As we ascended the escalator at 109, we were surrounded by young people, creating an awkward atmosphere. The president took me to the most popular shop in 109 and asked, “Why do you think this shop is doing well?” I couldn’t answer.

Next, we entered a shop with a cute brand name. The president explained the background of the brand and its designer, offering me new insights. I realized that behind the names of apparel shops, there are intentions and stories from the founders and designers. I felt embarrassed for never having thought that deeply about it before.

After the 109 tour, the president’s repeated question, “Why do you think?” lingered in my mind. It made me acutely aware that the show window is the face of the store. Who would be drawn into the Shibuya store by a window display that looks like a school play? What age group and magazine readers would be attracted? Being in charge of a shop at the entrance of Shibuya, I realized I had not been leveraging the location at all.

I felt the need to observe various show windows from then on. Searching “apparel show windows” online, I discovered a site featuring photos of boutique show windows in Ginza, Aoyama, Shibuya, and Omotesando. This discovery excited me. This experience prompted me to actively discuss window displays with the VMD staff. I had been unsure how to connect with them, but I realized this might be the “unfashionable yet business-savvy” approach the president had previously mentioned.

Gradually, I began to make small improvements in each window display. Although there was no specific budget from the head office, I managed to get many mannequins from another store. I made them taller to create a sharper impression. As a result, I began to notice a change in our customers.

This experience taught me the importance of the show window as the face of the store and the value of continuous improvement.

2.6 The Challenge Sparked by the President’s Question

One day, the president asked me, “How much would Shibuya store need to sell to be impressive?”
Considering our past results, I answered, “30 million yen.” However, the president, looking unsatisfied, smirked and asked again, “Is that really impressive?” At that moment, I blurted out, “40 million yen, no, 50 million yen.” As soon as I said it, I felt a genuine thrill at the thought of achieving such a number. And in that instant, a new dream crystallized within me: if we could achieve 50 million yen, I would start my own business.

At that time, the president’s vision was to “create subsidiaries and increase the number of presidents.” I felt there was a real possibility for me to become a president in the future, something unimaginable at my previous large company. Consequently, I was given the freedom to decide the sales target as the store manager. Though I impulsively declared “50 million yen,” the highest sales Shibuya store had ever achieved was 30 million yen. The challenge of generating an additional 20 million yen seemed monumental.

Despite this, the passion and exhilaration I felt at that moment ignited a fire within me. I strongly believed that striving for this challenge was worth it. I resolved to move forward, step by step, towards this new goal. But how? I still had no strategy in sight.

2.7 Winds of Change

Gradually, I felt the direction of the store beginning to shift as communication with the staff deepened. While the staff all said, “Shibuya store can’t attract regular customers,” I was able to invite customers from Ginza and attract new customers, keeping my personal sales strong.

In cooperation with the male assistant manager, we conducted staff interviews with a focus on hiring “staff capable of customer management.” Interestingly, we attracted staff with “neatly written and expressive resumes,” which greatly improved the store’s atmosphere.

I also did my best by assisting with window displays and encouraging staff to always collect customer contact information. Believing that boosting individual sales was key to increasing overall sales, I taught the staff the importance of numbers, something I had learned in my previous job. I introduced Excel sheets to make them aware of their individual sales and encouraged them to keep notebooks to review their daily customer interactions. However, within a month, no one was doing it. It turned out to be merely a test that showed “they wouldn’t do this.”

During this period, the company director was traveling to shops nationwide, conducting staff interviews. When he visited Shibuya store, I was eager to talk about what we had achieved. This company director, the president’s right-hand man, was only 39 years old but exceptionally intelligent and highly respected by many staff members. I hoped to gain some recognition for my management skills, believing I had done my best by leveraging my previous experience, hiring new staff, and improving the store’s atmosphere.

However, after hearing my story, the director asked, “Have you grown?” I thought I had grown by applying my past experience, but the director continued, “Doing something and growing from it are different. True growth comes from trying something new.”

His words felt like a hammer blow. Simultaneously, a new question arose within me: “What if I try something new?” This was the moment I decided to reflect on my past efforts and seek out new challenges.