Category: News

The awards take place in São Paulo at the end of June

The company Almeida Junior is a finalist for the Abrasce 2023 Award with four cases in
three of the nine categories available by the organization of the award in the shopping mall
segment. The group was selected with cases on employee training focusing on customer
interaction, on facing the challenge of the post-pandemic for its employees and with two
fashion events, one that covers an innovation hub in the area and another focused on the
inclusion of blind people in events like this. The award ceremony will take place in São
Paulo, on June 27th.

The four cases chosen as finalists by the judging committee for the award are part of
the categories ‘People Management’, ‘Events and Promotions’, and ‘Newton Rique of
Sustainability’ – ESG’. Organized by the Brazilian Association of Shopping Centers (Abrasce),
the purpose of the award is to recognize the innovative projects developed by Brazilian
shopping malls in the areas of social, environmental and economic transformation.
In the ‘People Management’ category, the case selected was ‘O pós-pandemia e o
desafio que valorizou a Employee Experience no Grupo Almeida Junior [The post-pandemic
and the challenge that enhanced the Employee Experience at the Almeida Junior Group]’.
The main objective of the project was to bring the family network of its employees closer to
the work environment in the resumption of in person work in June 2021. In order to
strengthen the company-employee-family bond in 2022, the group started to implement
new actions of proximity and engagement with families. Commemorative dates were
contemplated with the realization of special actions between workers and their families, in
addition to awards between employees and children.

In the ‘Events and Promotions’ category, two cases were classified as finalists. The
employee training project ‘AJ Encanta: antecipando o futuro da relação com o cliente
[anticipating the future of customer relations]’, took place in 2022 and reached 600 network
employees. AJ Encanta was conceived with the purpose of engaging the company’s
employees so that their services generate customer enchantment. A series of practical and
theoretical training stages were applied, in addition to manuals and pocket guides with
everyday situations to guide employees in customer service.

Another project highlighted in the category was ‘Garten Shopping vira hub de
Inovação na moda, com evento Startup Weekend Fashion Tech [Garten Shopping becomes a
fashion innovation hub, with a Startup Weekend Fashion Tech event]’, which brought
together fashion and technology, aiming at fostering an entrepreneurial culture and creating
new businesses in the fashion tech area in Joinville. The event’s differential was its venue, a
shopping mall, which enabled a direct connection between the developed solutions, fashion
and retail market shopkeepers and the consumer. The event featured the creation of 14
innovative projects in a period of just 54 hours and the participation of around 150 people.

In the ‘Newton Rique of Sustainability – ESG’ category, the case ‘A inclusão na
passarela do Norte Fashion Way: um desfile de moda para os cegos “verem” [Inclusion on
the catwalk of the Norte Fashion Way: a fashion show for the blind to “see”]’ was chosen as
a finalist. Between August and September 2022, the Norte Fashion Way event took place at
Norte Shopping of Blumenau, with the participation of more than 20 brands from the malls.
The shopping mall pioneered the use of the See Colors system at the event, a program
developed exclusively for blind people to identify colors through a tactile code printed on
the labels and on the items themselves. In addition to the See Color labels, the event had
the participation of visually impaired models, who walked down the catwalk using the audio
description technique for the audience present. Furthermore, a special lounge was set up to
explain the See Color technology to the public.

For Almeida Junior’s Director of Marketing and Relationships, Rafael Fiedler, being
among the finalists for an award like Abrasce’s is very significant. “We entered four cases
and the four were classified as finalists, which proves the value of the experiences
generated. One of the main values of our company is to innovate and do things differently,
we always seek to improve work environments and customer service, in addition to
innovating with projects and events. Being recognized in these fields encourages us to
continue promoting change in our shopping malls”, he points out.