Priscilla Ramírez, founder and CEO of Koker: "We have planned new store openings that we compatible with online growth"

The Spanish female fashion company Koker began its journey in 2014 with the opening of the first store in the center of Toledo in order to bring fashion trends closer with designs and own collections to real women.Two years later, he made the international leap with the inauguration of the first boutique in Portugal.At present, it adds more than 80 points of sale- they have 15 own stores- in nine countries (France, Portugal, Switzerland, Romania, Morocco, Mexico, Belgium, Costa Rica and Guatemala).The firm continues with its expansion plan within which it has just opened a new establishment, with nine openings this year and 12 in 2022 to continue growing with its business model.

They have just opened a new store in Benidorm.Is it a good time now to continue expansion?

We are in a moment of economic recovery. I am one of those who think that new opportunities arise from adversity and we have to take advantage of them. This has been the case of Benidorm's new store. As happened with Serrano Street in Madrid, the road walk in Benidorm had been in our spotlight for some time. It is an area where all brands like to be because it is a meeting point for citizens from all over Spain and foreigners; But it was a prohibitive place. There were no places available. Now this opportunity has emerged that we have not been able to reject. Pandemia has affected us as the entire sector. With the closure of physical stores, we decided to invest our energy in boosting Koker's digital part, which was practically non -existent. We set out to get to our clients' house through social networks and with an e-commerce. We develop an online store in record time that we have then improved. Our evolution since 2014 has remained up with last year due to pandemic. We closed 2020 with a 38% drop compared to the previous year, which had grown by 61%. In 2018, we managed to increase our turnover by 33% and, in 2017, we grew by 130% compared to 2016.

What next openings are planned?

Our expansion is based on three pillars: own stores, franchises and online store.The openings this 2021 on Serrano Street in Madrid and Benidorm road walk are their own stores and we hope new opportunities arise.In addition, we maintain the growth strategy through franchises.We have nine openings for the current year and 12 for 2022. We compatible this offline growth with the improvement and internationalization of our online store.The franchise is giving very good results to franchisees.It has a minimum investment of 27,900 euros to which a civil works must be added if the premises require.The billing planned for the first year of the franchise is 250,000 euros.Its appeal also lies that it has no entrance canon, or monthly royalty, or advertising canon;Although in the latter we are very active thanks to the fact that Koker wears known faces of television, music or actresses.

The combination of these three pillars, what logistics challenge does it do?

Fortunately, the logistics sector advances by leaps and bounds and shipping management is easier.We have our center in Toledo and from there the packages are prepared for both physical, own and franchise stores, and for online customers.Teamwork is essential for merchandise to reach its destinations in record time, even stores outside Spain.

The digitalization of stores is another of Koker's axes

We wanted digitalization to also be reflected in physical stores.One of the things that most value customers online are the videos of the garments in order to see the fall of the fabric and how it moves.We have taken this concept to physical stores.Each exhibitor percher has an LED screen in which you can see models with the clothes that are exposed below.

How is Koker different from other fashion stores?

Since our beginnings five years ago, we have been strengthening our strongest points to offer a unique product and a very positive purchase experience. Our company philosophy is based on an image of the premises or e-commerce and very careful product presentation, garments designed and manufactured in Italy and Spain, pattern and sizes for all types of bodies betting on real women, weekly collections that include Latest trends, manufacturing few garments per model to prevent clients from feeling that they are uniformed and a commitment to affordable prices without giving up quality and design. I created this project to offer women an opportunity to enter a unique environment and find complete combinations, outfits created by fashion advisors. I believe in real woman and flee from small sizes and fashion for mannequins. The real woman does not measure 90-60-90 or wears a size 36, there are as many bodies as women. From the beginning I was clear that I wanted to create fashion for women who walk down the street, those who run because they are late, like to feel beautiful but have no time and look for comfort. With that goal, we have worked for years to create a pattern that adapts to the day -to -day needs of all women.