Page 26 - #185 October 2023

Barcelona, Spain

Building Customer Confidence

Born in 1994 with its first store launching four years later, Salsa Jeans has grown and
evolved over the past three decades and is now available in more than 40 countries. In
this interview, RLI spends some time with company CEO Hugo Martins to discuss the
journey the brand has undergone and what its next steps are.

reated with the idea of crafting the best-fitting jeans, Salsa Another element of the new rollout is the fitting rooms, as while these
Jeans began life as a laundry unit before evolving into designing have always been a key feature in Salsa stores, they decided to take it a
Cand crafting denim wear, leveraging their own atelier and step further, designing them to create an experience, with the customer
industrial facilities. This craftsmanship ensures not only exceptional now able to choose which kind of lighting they’d like to have while trying
quality but also offers a sense of artistry and dedication to each piece, on their clothes – daylight, office light, disco light – just like their jeans,
making them truly unique. there is an option for everyone.
“I would say there are many things that make Salsa Jeans special,” In June, Salsa took this concept and adapted it to a shopping
exclaims CEO Hugo Martins. “The way we develop our jeans for centre context and opened their first two stores in Liffey Valley and
example, they are designed with the individuality of each person in Blanchardstown in Dublin, Ireland. This involved designing a store that
mind, particularly women, which inspires us to keep challenging our own delivered that same specialist denim experience, but in a smaller store
boundaries.” and in a more purchase-oriented context.
Today there is close to 200 Salsa Jeans stores across the world, with “Looking to the future, we have ambitious expansion plans in the
around 60 of them in their home market of Portugal. In addition, they short-term with a strong focus on the upcoming couple of years. We
have locations in Spain, France, Luxembourg, Slovenia and Ireland, the have plans for new stores in the Middle East, leveraging the positive
last of these being a new market where they only opened their first momentum the brand is experiencing locally. In relation to Europe,
store back in June. we will continue to develop our store network, namely in Ireland and
Outside of Europe, their franchise partners operate Salsa Jeans stores leverage that experience to enter further countries in the future,”
in a selection of regions, the most relevant of which is their long-lasting says Martins.
partnership in the Middle East in locations such as Lebanon, Bahrain, Constantly seeking fresh opportunities and improved ways to
Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. showcase Salsa Jeans to the world, the business is also delving into the
“We’ve also established a strong foothold through our inclusion in a Scandinavian and North American markets. Their initial interactions
multitude of department stores and wholesale points across Europe, indicate significant potential in both regions and it is developments like
Asia and Africa and growing within these geographies, giving us in total these that Martins feels are truly exciting, as their jeans consistently
about 1,500 points of sale worldwide,” Martins highlights. demonstrate exceptional fit & feel, regardless of geography, culture
Hugo goes onto explain that this year has marked significant progress or ethnicity.
in terms of store openings and in the unveiling of the company’s new The company has been on a journey of creation and innovation
store concept. Launched in April at its flagship store in Paseig de Gracia, since inception and it is this that sets them apart, this commitment to
Barcelona, the new concept embodies the brand’s soul: a place to find standing out, daring to tread uncharted paths and doing what has not
the best jeans in the world. been done yet.
Within the new unit there is also a permanent corner for denim The Confidence Room, which was unveiled as a pop-up in Dublin
customisation, repair and immediate hem making, a service that has been before the launch of their first stores there earlier this year, is a perfect
greatly appreciated by customers. Being in such a high-profile tourist example of this. It may be very unusual for a fashion brand to have a
location has also meant that a lot of the customers are not locals, so it is store that has its fitting room mirrors covered, but that is exactly what
pivotal to be able to offer this service in the very moment they purchase. Salsa did.