Page 4 - December 2020 January 2021

who’s who in retail

MEETS

Aaron

Sanandres

CEO Of UNTUCKIT

Q. Given the current market conditions, have you had to alter both and if I think about those who have done it well – the obvious one
or re-evaluate your key objectives over the coming 12 months? is Jeff Bezos, you think about Amazon it was an online bookstore to what
A. Retail happens to be one of those industries that have been it’s become today, that’s probably the biggest transformational success
particularly hard hit by Covid-19 and so for us in particular, we went story in modern time.
from a massive growth phase outlook in January and february to a
very different outlook almost overnight. Covid-19 has definitely forced Q. What do you make of social media and its prominent rise
us to re-evaluate our key objectives, original objective was growth and in importance over the last few years, and how important do
expansion, and the second, once Covid hit was really how do we manage you feel e-commerce and online activities will continue to be?
to get through this from a cost containing perspective so that we survive. A. There’s no question that e-commerce is becoming increasingly
important to retailers and frankly to most commerce business’s. Social
Q. How would you say the Covid-19 outbreak has affected your media is also massively important and it is a pretty broad venue in terms
business in the last weeks and months, and will it affect your of getting your marketing message out there. I think the different arm
plans moving forward? of that social media will play different levels or will have different levels
A. We are very much a dress for occasion brand. That occasion could be of importance depending on the organisation and the type of brand
going to dinner, travelling, going to work – and so when basically all of the that you are.
dress for occasion events got shut down in March, the relevancy of our
product was not what it was just from thirty days earlier. We had to kind Q. What would you consider to be your career highlights?
of rethink from a marketing perspective, from a production perspective, A. I’d say there are three. The first for me was when I made partner at
we had to think what will be relevant and so we pushed the more casual PWC which was a culmination of a lot of late hours and a lot of hard
of our attire. We all know that at some point we are going to figure a way work. At UNTUCKit I think there were two, one was the day we actually
out of this and what I see is a brand like UNTUCKit being something turned on our e-commerce site and went live, there was just something
far more relevant than it ever was pre-Covid because of what we offer. sweet sitting back and actually watching this now living and breathing
commerce site. The other was our last Christmas party and me and
Q. What key leadership skills do you feel are the most important Chris were just standing in the office that we have on Green Street, and
in the current retail climate? just kind of watching all our employees working away, laughing, chatting
A. first and foremost is honesty. During a time like Covid, where there’s and basically enjoying their job. There was something stunning just to
a lot of anxiety, you have to be direct and up front and honest with your take a moment and look around at the culture that we, through our
employees. Empathy, as a leader I think is always important and during employees, had created and that was fantastic.
a time like Covid and the pandemic, I don’t think it can be understated
how important it is to be an empathetic leader. The last one I would say, Q. How are you personally feeling about the 12 months ahead?
this is maybe more for times of crisis – is, cost management, I think is a A. I think the biggest one will be on the retail side and how comfortable
really important skill set to have when you need it. people will be in November and December to go and venture out and
go to the shops, it’s all about the feeling of safety. But when we start to
Q. As a leader, when making key strategic decision, what get out of Q4 this year and Q1 next year I’m actually very optimistic
proportion of the decision do you feel is fact-based and what in terms of the outlook because there’s a massive amount of pent up
proportion is instinctual? demand to travel, to go out and to start living again and that bodes really
A. for me, I always like to make informed decisions and data plays a very well for everyone.
important role in everything I do. I may have an instinct to cut marketing
here, or to increase marketing there but I want to make sure that I have Q. Do you have any words of warning for the industry as we
at least tried to support that instinct with data so I can make truly an head into unchartered territory?
informed decision. A. I think the challenge for retailers now is one working within the
confines of your existing leases, there’s just a lot of fixed costs in retail
Q. Can a leader remain transformational and authentic, and if and so making sure that the landlords that you open stores with are truly
so who would you say is your favourite example of such a leader? partners, I think is an important one and one that’s become abundantly
A. I think to be a leader, I think you kind of have to be both transformational evident during Covid-19, so knowing who to partner with and picking
and authentic otherwise it’s tough to lead. But I think you really need your friends as they say I think is important.

04 RETAIL & LEISURE INTERNATIONAL DECEMBER 2020 / JANUARY 2021