Jam-packed theme day

Wenche Ydstebø is generous with her rating when asked to evaluate the Texcon Theme Day held on 23 October.

“I give it a 10 out of 10. It was bang on the money and both motivating and effective. I like that,” says Wenche Ydstebø.

Varied programme

Texcon Theme Day is an annual event that attracts a lot of Texcon members. The programme is always jam-packed. Many new developments take place over the course of a year and for all those who like to keep up with the latest news, the event offers a wide range of themes. This year, the stage was shared by some of Norway’s most competent experts, including two attorneys, a shop designer and a trend researcher.

I give it a 10 out of 10.

Wenche Ydstebø

Important trends

The event opened with a talk by Ole Petter Nyhaug from Opinion, who outlined the important trends for the clothing industry at the moment, and also gave a few recommendations.

“Ole Petter Nyhaug was great. I jotted down everything he said and have already rehashed his talking points for my employees twice. In fact, we’ve changed our marketing strategy after hearing what he had to say,” says Ydstebø.

Nyhaug presented lots of figures based on various surveys and studies conducted by Opinion over the course of a year. Many of those in the audience eagerly jotted down his words: people still think it’s easier and faster to shop in a physical store, it’s not that people have too little time, only too many choices – so you need to make it easy to choose. Act as a safe haven by offering the opposite of the global chains. Show who you are, show that you are local, use humour and put yourself out there. A good ambience is the most important form of experience design, and good salesmanship never goes out of style. Especially not nowadays!

Generational shift

Rino Hansen from Fredrikstad mentions Kjetil Vågen, a lawyer and partner of the law firm CLP DA. He gave an informative and detailed talk on different forms of business transfers.

Hansen attended the event together with his son, Kornelius Bror Hansen, who also works at his Rino Hansen shop.

“There’s definitely a generational shift going on and I had lots of aha moments during the event. I think there were quite a few who cast their eyes downwards when asked about what you do when you decide to stop working.  That was a very good topic. What he said about getting everything down on paper, about systemising and getting everything in place was important. You can’t just wait until the day you decide that you’ve had enough.”

The importance of getting together with colleagues from around the country is underestimated.

Rino Hansen

“I’m not really good at going to all of Texcon’s joint events since, after all, we already have a packed schedule, but I’m very happy that I went this time. The importance of getting together with colleagues from around the country is underestimated. There are lots of great retailers in Texcon. I should also mention that my son and I had a great talk on the train ride home. Since he’ll be taking over the business, I need to become better at involving him more and clearer about how I think.”

New price advertising rules

The lecture by attorney Sverre McSeveny-Åril from Virke generated considerable interest. New price advertising rules took effect on 1 October of this year. The rules are accompanied by substantial sanctions: non-compliance can be penalised by up to 4% of annual turnover. The rules state, for example, that if a product is advertised as discounted, information must be provided on the previous price of that product. The previous price is the lowest price offered to customers at least 30 days before the advertised price. If the product has been offered at an extra low price in the customer club, this is considered the lowest price.

Something for everyone

According to the general manager of Texcon, Thomas Vethe, a great deal of thought and effort goes into putting together a programme for an event like this. But he also points out that with a programme that spans everything from new price advertising rules to legal and economic aspects, it is virtually impossible to satisfy 100% of attendees when it comes to speakers and topics. All the same, Vethe is confident that most participants went home feeling satisfied.

I think the programme was really good and it’s always nice to see everyone again…

Kristoffer Ødegaard

Social

Another one of the attendees was Kristoffer Ødegaard, who runs Ødegaard in Drammen, Sandefjord, at Liertoppen and Metro. Ødegaard was joined by his colleague, Per Oluf Vestin, at the event.

“I think the programme was really good and it’s always nice to see everyone again and hear about how they’re doing. Texcon shops are all quite similar, so it’s a great opportunity to get the low-down on what everyone’s up to these days.”