Multilingual and multicultural success
01.
THE CLIENT
Courir France
Courir France is a leading European sneaker retail company. The company owns 250 stores right across metropolitan France. Internationally, Courir has stores across the majority of French overseas territories, as well as in multiple countries including Morocco, Dubai, Ivory Coast, Israel, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia.
Courir Iberia
The Spanish subsidiary of Courir, Courir Iberia was the apple of Courir France’s eye until 2018, when the business was successfully set up, with several stores in Barcelona and Madrid.
Founded
1980
HQ
Alfortville, France
Company Size
501 - 1000 Employees
Industry
Retail
Specialties
Sporting Goods, Multi-brand Retail, Distribution, e-Commerce02.
THE CHALLENGE
What’s the next step for a leading retail corporation with an established national presence? To go international!
As a retail leader in France with 250 brick-and-mortar stores and an ever-growing suite of franchises abroad, it was time for Courir to take the business to new heights and territories – destination: Spain.
Naturally, however, expanding across borders would come with a series of challenges in terms of setup and understanding a whole new market.
So, in 2018, when Courir decided to take their business to Iberia (Spain) for the first time, they sought out a global partner with local expertise to simplify their growth.
03.
OUR SOLUTION
To ease their expansion and setup in the Spanish market, we partnered with Courir France and delivered a multi-faceted package of services tailored to their specific needs.
The first and primary focus was on their Spanish team, sourcing and bringing together the talents to bring their business to life on the ground.
As such, we recruited an entire team for their new Spanish headquarters, as well as for several boutiques across Madrid and Barcelona.
Taking a holistic approach with the expansion, we also undertook various HR processes to manage Courir’s local relations. These included defining and executing an industrial agreement, conducting salary studies, and arranging employment contracts for their staff.
In order to strengthen their human capital, we took the steps to help them define their recruitment strategy, implementing employee retention strategies, remuneration and compensation benefits.
Lastly, we tackled the cross-cultural aspect with our signature Polyglot expertise, providing translation services to localise all the marketing material for Courir’s Spanish stores; internal policy documents; letters of appointment (in-house contracts); job descriptions; and social media content.
04.
THE RESULTS
Within one year, the partnership between Courir and Polyglot Group had proven more than fruitful.
Polyglot Group’s European talent specialists managed to build a total of four store teams – a total of more than 30 people including the leadership team. Our team successfully sourced and placed a suite of management roles, including several corporate profiles in sales and administration.
Our Polyglot Group consultants conducted key interviews, meeting with relevant retail professionals and sneaker lovers alike to develop the business and allow Courir to put their best foot forward as they entered the Spanish market.
To ensure success in the local market, our experts also translated countless pages of content from French to Spanish and Catalan – be it contracts, flyers, or digital posts. A necessity for cross-cultural awareness and business development, this also served to reinforce their brand image and presence for the Spanish audience.
Better still, the story doesn’t end here! Polyglot Group will continue to assist Courir Iberia on expanding its Spanish presence in 2019.
