Editorial|Editorial
Stockmann’s great difficulties reflect both the trend of the department store business and the arrogance of the company’s past years.
Tavaratalo Stockmann’s difficulties have fueled the debate about whether department stores are the dinosaurs of the modern world. Stockmann’s fate does not clearly prove the collapse of the department store business, because the background of the company’s problems is also the company itself: the arrogant and anti-change corporate culture of its last years.
Stockmann is considering changing its name to Lindex. Kaj-Gustaf Bergh, the former chairman of Stockmann’s board, reflected In an interview with HS on Monday, that the time for department stores is over. According to Bergh, today’s department store is an online store that does not need expensive real estate and a lot of labor.
The golden age of department stores is undoubtedly over, and the coronavirus pandemic accelerated consumers’ transition to the Internet. But Stockmann’s leadership also has its share of misery. Back at the turn of the millennium, the maintenance ratio was the opposite in the group. The department store was profitable and other parts of the company – for example, Seppälä, the car shop and Hobby Hall did poorly. The then CEO Hannu Penttilä was even ready to give up some parts of Stocka, which was an unheard of act in the company, as it came close to admitting a mistake.
OFat one time, Stockmann was proud of the fact that, like many stores, it did not rush into the e-commerce business. Stocka’s management believed that e-commerce was a costly mistake.
Stockmann’s decision-makers identified their company with European luxury stores, for example the French Galeries Lafayette. Stockmann tried to create himself a synonym for “quality”, but in the eyes of others, “conservative” and “arrogant” also joined the chain of synonyms.
When Tokmanni started, Stockmann was nervous because the plastic bucket trade tarnished the brand. Stockmann filed a complaint with the court, but – in keeping with the company’s culture and as if predicting the future – Stocka was late: the appeal period ran out.
Correction September 26, 2023 at 6:00 p.m.: Kaj-Gustaf Bergh is not the chairman of Stockmann’s board of directors, as was erroneously written earlier in the article. Bergh is the former chairman of the board.
Correction 26.9.2023 at 19:10: Corrected the spelling of Kaj-Gustaf Bergh’s name.
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