Abrasce Magazine: Almeida Junior recognizes talents and allows employees growth

Providing an environment that allows the growth of its employees is one of the pillars of Almeida Junior’s management. There is no lack of examples of people who have reached different positions within the company, demonstrating that meritocracy is an important concept that governs internal promotions. In the previous edition of Abrasce Magazine (Brazilian Malls Association), two collaborators were the highlights in a story about the importance of career plans to retain talent. Check below the testimonials of the Superintendent of Balneário Shopping, Elizângela Cardoso, and of the Marketing and Digital Director, Rafael Fiedler.

Elizangela Cardoso – Superintendent of Balneário Shopping

“I joined the iconic mall of Grupo Almeida Junior, Balneário Shopping, in 2013 as marketing manager. I held the position for about two and a half years and the opportunity for Superintendent arose. At first, I was a little afraid because it was something totally new. I accepted the position provisionally with the expectation that they would hire someone else for the job, but I adapted very well. I decided to stay and I am still there. I have already completed six and a half years working at Balneário Shopping. I am very proud that, as a woman, I can run one of the main malls in the south of the country. It is a very big challenge and I am very grateful for the opportunity. What I admire most about the company is the look of the owners of Almeida Junior. They are very close and accessible to people in management and coordination positions. The company works with meritocracy, seeking to recognize employees. Before looking for people in the market, an internal analysis is always done to see who has shown the skills to take on positions. This, in fact, motivates us to make deliveries, to dream together and to work harder and harder so that the company can achieve its goal: to be one of the largest shopping mall companies in the country.”

Rafael Fiedler – Marketing and Digital Director of Almeida Junior

“In 2019, I complete three years working at Almeida Junior. It is a company that, despite having a very strong corporate vision, operating six malls in Santa Catarina and being the leader in the state, gives you the freedom to innovate and a favorable environment to develop innovative projects. With this bias, I started to create different projects at Balneário Shopping. With my work development, the invitation to assume the Superintendence of Garten Shopping came. There, I opened the range of commercial activities, leading all operational teams. With the commitment of the entire team and highlighting the venture within the established goals, the invitation to assume the Marketing and Digital Director position of Almeida Junior came. I really like the energy of the company and I found my place here. The important thing for the professional is to look for environments that allow him to be who he really is. This is very much connected to happiness. With this freedom, we end up working harder and better.”

Almeida Junior bets on technology to connect with consumers

The retail landscape has changed in recent years and the increased use of mobile devices has led companies to enhance their services and interact more with consumers. The multichannel format for customer relations has evolved into omnichannel, which integrates an online and offline presence.

 

Keeping an eye on this retail movement, Almeida Junior has been investing in initiatives that involve new technologies within its Innovation and Experimentation Center, AJ.LABS. The first of these was the SHOPPromo platform, which works in the Almeida Junior APP and features a series of promotions from the six network’s malls in the app. The customer reserves the desired product in the mobile phone and finalizes the purchase in the physical store. That is, interaction begins online and is effected offline, resulting in greater consumer experience in malls and expanding sales possibilities for retailers.

 

Another project that involves technology is the result of a partnership with a company in the Silicon Valley region that specializes in social network analysis. Through the solution we can check the online behavior of customers inside malls. Through strategic data analysis, personalized customer engagement is possible, based on their behavior in the online environment, thus unleashing a unique customer experience and generating business intelligence. In addition to data from social networks, you can also cross-check information from other sources, such as the mall heat map that helps guide activation actions.

 

VERTICAL VAREJO

Almeida Junior has also been investing in interaction with Florianópolis’ powerful innovation ecosystem to bring new solutions involving technologies. The company is a sponsor of Vertical Varejo of ACATE (Santa Catarina Technology Association), which is attended by 25 companies that develop retail solutions and has already selected three of them in their first pitch to test their solutions. Most of the companies that make up Vertical are startups, which makes them more agile and disruptive in the innovation process. The leadership of this process of approximation between retail and technology has been led by Almeida Junior in order to always bring innovation to the market.

Fashion: Almeida Junior malls are stage for trends

Santa Catarina has already gained space in the fashion world, either by the brands that are already consolidated or by the emergence of new ones. The state is the second largest textile and apparel center in the country and the segment is responsible for 21.8% of industry jobs. With all this power, the fashion industry is very active and consumers constantly seek news. To serve this attentive audience, Almeida Junior malls are ahead and present the trends of new collections with events bringing brands closer to the public. The second semester calendar will debut with Continente Fashion Way, an event at Continente Shopping on September 12th.

 

Six renowned brands will parade their spring-summer 2020 collections: Damyller, Lança Perfume, Altenburg, Track & Field, Canal and Jorge Bischoff. The show will not only be about the selection of looks, but also a technique called moulage – in which the clothes are made with the fabric directly on the body.

 

The approach of the event with the public was one of the highlights at the time of formatting the Continente Fashion Way: the shows will be held in an arena format, so that the models can be seen by all spectators at the same time.

 

The event will be more than a parade, among the brands already mentioned, productions of fashion students from UDESC (Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina) will be present, an unprecedented action within the mall that further values local creation and fashion production in the state.