A Polish fashion chain was planning to open up to ten new stores within just three months at the end of 2024. Facing a shortage of quality candidates and the approaching pre – Christmas season, it became a race against time – and we helped them win it.
Retail Is a Very Specific Environment
One of the biggest challenges in retail recruitment is the nature of the industry itself. Weekend and holiday work, opening hours from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., and responsibilities before and after store hours – all of these factors reduce the attractiveness of retail positions.
“Speed versus quality in recruitment – time often plays a key role. But there are limits, because a store simply can’t function without staff. If you have no people, you can’t open. If you have too few, you face losses – due to theft, poor customer service, and other risks,” explains Martina Pavelková (S&you HR Consultant).
Another factor is store location. In smaller towns, it’s more difficult to find experienced store managers – there are fewer of them and they’re less willing to change jobs.
Fast Expansion Met with Staffing Shortages
In this case, a well-known clothing brand that’s been on the market since 2013 was planning a major expansion. The company runs over 110 stores in Poland, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic, employing more than a thousand people. It focuses on a creative approach to fashion, collaborates with artists and designers, and produces limited collections.
In 2024, the brand planned to open as many as ten new stores within just three months—right before the Christmas season. The first wave seemed promising, as the Jihlava store was opened using only in-house recruitment.
Trouble came in Ostrava, where the company couldn’t fill the key role of store manager. That’s when the client turned to us for help. The fashion chain chose our recruitment agency based on a recommendation from another client. According to their feedback, they were referred to us as “the best retail specialists in the Czech Republic.” We lived up to that reputation.
“The client approached us at the end of September 2024, which meant an extremely short time frame for hiring, since the first stores were set to open in October,” explains Christophe Beaujard (S&you Director CZ+SK).
We Met the Client’s Expectations for Candidates
Thanks to our candidate database and intensive research, we were able to fill both the store manager and deputy manager positions in Ostrava within two weeks.
We earned the client’s trust and gradually became involved in hiring for other locations as well, including Zlín, Opava, and more. The situation became more complicated in Slovakia, where a store manager and several employees unexpectedly left a shopping mall store in Bratislava.
We created an action plan and brought in not only our consultants – who mainly handled management roles—but also our colleagues from the SYNERGIE division, who helped fill sales assistant positions.
Results of Our Collaboration
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7 new stores opened
• Recruitment support provided for 5 of them -
9 managerial positions filled
• Store and deputy managers recruited -
22 sales assistants hired
• Recruitment in both Czech Republic and Slovakia -
Assessment centre
• For group interviews of sales assistants
“Thanks to the assessment centre, store managers could personally select sales assistants for their stores and immediately complete personal questionnaires for employment contracts,” adds Martina Pavelková.
The key advantage was the expertise of our consultants, who have direct experience in retail and understand its specific needs.
“Our consultants are professionals from fashion retail. They know how stores work and what key qualities candidates need to have,” Martina adds.
This case clearly illustrates our philosophy: imagine the right person for your role – and we’ll find them for you. The ability to quickly scale recruitment to meet urgent or large staffing needs is a skill we offer to any company planning expansion or dealing with unexpected personnel shortages.