modebranchen.NU NU International no. 01 2019 | Page 35

NO SEASON:
Article
A SUCCESSFUL CONCEPT FROM MINUS
The Danish fashion company Minus' No Season concept, an
addition to the traditional long-term collections, is a big hit.
BY HELLE MATHIESEN
The owners of Minus define No Season as a piece of gar- A skilled sales team
two parts: A Never Out of Stock program with basic sty- - To make the No Season concept run smoothly, it re-
ment that is unaffected by seasonality, which, as a re- The sales team at Minus is made up of skilled people
les in classic colours as well as a Season program with quires the sales staff to have a chat with the buyers or
sult, has a long life. The No Season concept consists of
the same items but in the fresh, new colours of the sea-
son. While the NOOS items are always in stock, products
in the Seasonal concept are available only while stock
lasts, which is typically a single season.
- With our No Season concept, we can offer some of the
same benefits as the popular express brands since we
provide day-to-day delivery to the stores. This makes
for stronger liquidity for stores as they avoid the risk
of too much capital tied up in stock. The concept offers
the same service as that of express suppliers, but we of-
fer basic styles, which are always in demand, says Irena
Riberholt Jørgensen, who owns Minus together with
Chalotte Kjær Bruun. They acquired the brand and the
company Minus A/S back in 2013. With many years of
experience from the fashion industry, the two women
knew from the start where they were going with the
company.
- The ambition of Minus is to provide modern and busy
women with a wardrobe to suit any occasion. We con-
with extensive retail knowledge.
owners of the stores about the concept and the benefits
they can gain from it. Ideally, the stores should have all
sizes available. This requires continuous replenishment,
which is done easily through our B2B portal. Moreover,
our sales staff often makes visits to the stores and offers
a helping hand with stocking up. This way, the store is
always ready to generate additional sales from the ex-
tensive range of basic styles we offer, Irena Riberholt
Jørgensen explains.
- When we talk to some of our new customers, we make
sure to set up the No Season concept from day one and
this way lay the foundation for a long-term relationship.
Then we can send the first batch of No Season items and
have it delivered to the store shortly after the buyer
has returned from, say, a trade fair, says Chalotte Kjær
Bruun. She adds that the No Season concept involves a
certain amount of risk-taking for Minus.
Risk-taking is necessary
tinue to design the collections based on our own expe- - A couple of years ago, we made the strategic decision to
collection of basic items, says Irena Riberholt Jørgensen. requires us to take on all risk and place orders many
riences from being a modern woman. There is a strong
demand for a functional wardrobe with an extensive
From a single style to a family of products
The No Season concept consists of trousers, blazer
jackets, skirts, knits and a wide range of tops.
- Often, one of our best selling styles is developed into a
small line of bestsellers. Take our seamless lace top, for
example. A cute and functional top with lace edging at
the top. This style has been developed into a line of five
different styles, all based on the original top, which sold
exceptionally well in all markets. The different styles all
come in basic colours in the NOOS program and in up to
four seasonal shades in the Seasonal program, Chalotte
Kjær Bruun explains. She adds that a style is sometimes
"born" into the No Season program if the style has a
clear potential to be in demand season after season.
To consistently offer the most optimal mix of pro-
ducts, Minus collaborates closely with some of their best
customers.
trust our guts, our market knowledge and overall expe-
rience when we buy new items. The No Season concept
months in advance. On the other hand, the risk-taking
enables us to offer our customers a long list of advan-
tages it would be hard for them to find elsewhere, says
Irena Riberholt Jørgensen. Benefits include stronger li-
quidity, short delivery times and low inventory levels.
All the commercial advantages are communicated to
new as well as existing customers.
Order management, warehouse and logistics are hand-
led from Ikast in Denmark at Minus' relatively new
headquarters.
Especially fashion stores in Holland have embraced Mi-
nus' No Season concept and the Dutch retailers - along
with retailers from other markets - actively use Minus'
B2B platform on a regular basis.
Minus is available in Scandinavia, Holland, Belgium and
Germany.
MODEBRANCHEN.
| ISSUE NO 01 JANUARY 2019 | 35