Entreprendre XXL, a city agency from the commune of Ixelles (Brussels), provides support to local entrepreneurs in their expansion endeavours. One of its initiatives is the “W83 – local test shop”, a small retail space fitted with flexible furniture offered to an entrepreneur looking to explore a first physical retail format for a duration of 3-4 months. Additionally to the space, Entreprendre XXL also offers each entrepreneur with a few hours of on-site consultancy from a “retail design coach”. I was honoured to be selected as the coach for the year 2024-2025, thus guiding 4 very different entrepreneurs through their initial encounters with physical retailing.

The first entrepreneur I had the pleasure of helping via the “W83 – local test shop initiative” was Thamara Troch Latimer, founder of Orsoko. Orsoko is the first and only retailer in Belgium (and its neighbouring countries) dedicated to natural male grooming products. Thamara is passionate about this topic and has spent years educating herself, in term becoming a true expert in this domain.

When I first met with her, she had already set up her offer in the W83 test shop space. The store was thus already operational. I was quite impressed with what Thamara had put in place given her limited prior experience with physical retailing. She truly impressed me with her natural flair for retail strategy, all the way down to the quality of her VM presentations. We thus had a strong base to kick-start our collaboration.

Given the great base Thamara had provides us to work off, in my coaching sessions I aimed to refine her retail design execution by:

1. Challenging her to reflect on her omnichannel strategy and the role of her (current and future) physical store(s) in this one
2. Strategising with her a retail design approach: in short, I recommended focusing the test shop (and other future physical locations) on service and advice. These aspects are difficult to implement online and in the case of her specific brand are essential to fully translate her expertise and passion for her unique offer.
3. Providing concrete “quick win” solutions tailored to her current store location to implement the above approach.

The entire mission was executed in just 11 days. In our first 2hr encounter, I collected as much information as possible from Thamara herself, as well as the store visit. I then spent an hour or so conducting desk research and drafting my advice report. We reviewed this one together in a second 2hr coaching session, focusing the discussion on how Thamara could efficiently and economically implement my suggested quick win solutions.

Though initially somewhat surprised at my strategic approach applying a more omnichannel perspective than she had expected, Thamara’s openness to listen and learn led her to appreciate the benefits of this methodology. Below is an excerpt of her feedback on the services I provided her.