What: Retaildetail reviews the changes taking place within Inno and questions the lack of radicality in the decisions made.

Why it is important: Inno is a household name in Belgium but no company is too big to fail anymore in retail.

Inno from Belgium has been founded in 1897 under the name “A L’Innovation” and was a pioneer in Europe for this retail format (A l’Innovation is a founding member of the IADS). The celebration of its 125th year of existence is turbulent: due to cash issues, the company had to put half of the staff on temporary unemployment a few weeks ago, and even though they are back in stores now, the malaise is here. The company belongs to Galeria Kaufhof.

A new CEO, Armin Devender, took office in 2019 with a clear plan:

• Rejuvenation of the stores both from a physical perspective and in terms of brand and product assortment,
• A higher brand positioning, leading to a full rebranding of the company,
• More room for food and catering, including partnerships with F&B companies such as lunch chain BON,
• The launch of an e-commerce cum marketplace website.

However the article questions the speed of changes implemented within the company. Short of cash and without much time ahead, it seems that Inno should be making more radical choices, just like what other department store companies such as Galeries Lafayette have done by transferring the property of their stores to other companies.

Is Inno ready for the next 125 years?