– I’m as excited as a child!
Svenn-Olav Frogner is the man who will run Garderobemekka Fredrikstad, a brand new and beautiful store in Fredrikstad’s shopping mecca. But before he gets that far, he will be helping to assemble the wardrobe displays himself.
GARDEROBEMEKKA delivers and installs bespoke sliding door wardrobes in Greater Oslo, Fredrikstad and Trondheim, at the best price on the market.
On September 1 at 10:00 am, the 5th Garderobemekka store will open in the Dikeveien shopping area outside Fredrikstad. The newly appointed store manager, Svenn-Olav Frogner, is full of enthusiasm and expectations for everything that will happen.
“It’s incredibly fun to be involved in building a store from scratch, everything from choosing the flooring in the premises to building up a good response from satisfied customers, I’m really looking forward to this,” says Frogner.
Great faith in the Wardrobe Mecca
Frogner has solid experience of running a store, coming from his job as a store manager at Right Price Tiles and was also a department manager in the Maxbo Group for a number of years. But the most important thing he brings to the job of store manager is many years of sales experience. He himself started out as a salesman, and from there he has taken on more and more responsibility.
Sales experience is very important in this job, being able to focus on the customer and see everyone in the store. I’m triggered by sales, and it’s great fun when customers get more than they bargained for. At the same time, I love everything to do with running a store – creating routines, setting standards, getting new ideas going and making sure customers are happy,” he says.
When we talk to him, Svenn-Olav Frogner has been working at Garderobemekka for a week and a half. But his first impression of the Group is very good, and he has received very good training from competent people in management. He feels that there are open lines between people, it’s easy to reach people and there’s a great willingness to share learning and experience.
Garderobemekka is a new group and a solid player that has had a good and healthy progression, and which focuses on good quality at good prices. It is a serious supplier of quality wardrobes. And I have a very good feeling about the location in Dikeveien, which is a shopping mecca and a prime location for us,” says the store manager.
Setting up your own store
Frogner says he has great faith in the synergy effect in Dikeveien, which he knows well from his previous job. Garderobemekka will be located in the Bohus building, in large and bright premises with plenty of space for a good selection of stylish wardrobe solutions. Svenn-Olav admits that he’s as excited as a small child about how the store will turn out, and he has to keep stopping by to see how the premises are developing. And part of his training involves being involved in the installation of wardrobes in the store, so he gets first-hand knowledge of the products and installation. Because product knowledge is very important in order to do a good job.
The learning curve when it comes to sliding door wardrobes has been steep lately, but I’m learning from the best and I find it really exciting. I’m already making sales, putting together proposals for offers and getting good advice from employees in the chain. And my best wardrobe tip so far has to be to start with what the wardrobe will be used for. What goes in there must be the starting point for design and furnishing. And I have to admit that I have a weakness for black details, but I keep finding new favorites,” smiles Svenn-Olav Frogner.
