Casting your net

Anyone who knows that flowery shirts and skin-tight trousers will be best sellers this season does not necessarily know in which town or in which shopping centre they will find the greatest demand and the best customers. Such was the idea behind Sisim, a company established in 1985, whose aim was to advise retailers regarding their expansion plans and strategy. The idea proved to be so successful that now, 20 years on, the company operates in more than a dozen countries, its Polish branch also serving Lithuania, Estonia and the Ukraine.

Italian roots, Polish branches

For more than four years Sisim's Polish office has rented space, looked for clients to take on franchises, recruited staff and planned the interiors for their customers' retail outlets. The company has Italian roots which is why many of its clients are also its compatriates: Calzedonia, Intimissimi and Sergio Tacchini. Thanks to Sisim the Giacomelli Sport chain entered Poland and opened some 20 shops. Answering whether it is a selling point having worked for a company which went bankrupt and vanished from the market, Grażyna Chudzińska from Sisim's marketing department replied, "Giacomelli managed excellently on the Polish market. The reasons for its collapse lay beyond this country's borders." Tomasz Pecio, senior development consultant, remarks that foreign chains taking their first steps in Poland realise just how little they know about the market and therefore hand most of the responsibility for getting established to external consultants. However, don't believe that since Sisim has mainly foreign clients that it turns its back on Polish customers. "One of our latest customers is Ruch (the press distributor), which had realised that its competitors had taken a lead with the modernisation of their outlets. Our role is to help it catch up," Grazyna Chudzinska explained.

But aren't you an agent?

Do the services offered by Sisim during the first stages of establishing shops, i.e. looking for and renting retail space, differ from those provided by agents? After all, renting space in malls and other retail premises is the most basic service that agents provide. Tomasz Pecio clarified the point, "First and foremost, we do not represent developers nor do we market property. Our customers do not have to worry that we will go over to the competition as soon as the ink on the contract has dried. Secondly, we do not consider collaboration as a "one off" matter and don't have the philosophy that "a deal is a deal." We don't disappear with the fee once a rental contract has been signed, but continue working with customers. For example we take care of retailers, perhaps by representing them in negotiations with the lessor. I am sure that the more we work with them, the more they trust us. Mr. Pecio, who worked for a developer for several years, when describing the role which Sisim plays, mentions "assistance in avoiding pitfalls which a person unacquainted with the market is unable to notice." At this point he highlights a specific detail: that in his opinion, some Polish shopping centres have created a better image for themselves abroad than they are actually perceived in Poland. He doesn't express it directly, but reading between the lines he means Warsaw's Wola Park. "Our job is to give our customers the most accurate description of all the merits and faults of retail sites. However, should they decide, against our advice, to choose a certain centre for their new shop then all we can do is 'minimise' any losses which may result.

Wholesalers

The fact that Sisim cooperates with customers differently to agents may provide leverage in negotiations with owners of retail properties.The company, operating like wholesaler, can negotiate better conditions. It is an attractive and trustworthy partner for a lessor. The result is that it is easier for Sisim to introduce its customers to those shopping centres with long waiting lists, e.g. Galeria Mokotów.