Opening of the permanent BonneGueule store in Lyon

In June 2015, our first BonneGueule boutique opened at 14 rue Commines in Paris. Ah, the "physical boutique", this vast project, exciting and terrifying at the same time (a lot of money involved with a profitability impossible to predict correctly, except in an almost pessimistic way).

It was quite emotional the first time I saw the BonneGueule logo on the façade, it had never been printed so big... It was completely new for us.

And then the beginnings were so encouraging that almost a year later, we opened a second clothing store in Lyon .

The big (and secret) news is HERE!

Why Lyon? At what address? How did we minimize the risk? Choosing the location? Recruitment? You're going to find out everything! But first of all, know that I am not the most legitimate person to talk about this store opening, and therefore this article will be a little special...

Well yes, we have already mentioned it at BonneGueule, we strive to make the teams very responsible and autonomous. And because of this, I have not been very involved in this "physical retail" adventure (the editorial and the BG line take up a lot of my time).

And I am very happy to see all the accomplishments of our team, to see that the employees of BonneGueule are not only the arms and legs of the founders but that they are capable of accomplishing things that I could not do a tenth of !

Through this article, apart from giving you the details of the opening of this second store, I would like to pay tribute to this team of which I am so proud . And precisely, each person involved in this big project will explain to you how they went about it, so that you understand the place and role of each one 🙂

Florian will first give you an overview of the actions he has implemented to serve his obsession with customer service, Maxime and Antoine will tell you about their vision of welcoming and advising customers in store, Céline will share her first impressions with BonneGueule readers/customers, then the dynamic duo Anaïs/Elie will tell you in detail how they managed to open a second permanent store in Lyon.

Here we go!

The Parisian boutique experience: the results

The Paris Shop: Qualifications for EURO 2016 (Florian)

The launch of the Paris store was a major project in 2015. Many people worked on the store, and for my part I worked a lot in tandem with Elie; him on the big part: monitoring the work, making sure the store was ready and beautiful on time; me on the back office part (all the organization, the processes, the training of the team behind it). In short, making sure your experience is as pleasant and consistent as possible!

We managed to open the store quickly , in a month I think: it was tough, but really exciting because it was the first.

And since then, the store has been full. We are very happy to see you there every day of the week, Antoine and Maxime take great pleasure in welcoming you. It was important to me that the spirit of the showroom continues in the store, a nice place where you can come and touch and try our entire collection in a friendly and sharing atmosphere!

For the opening in Lyon, we already had certainties, experience acquired with the Paris store. Anaïs joined us in the meantime to develop the retail with Elie. Personally, this opening was more gentle. I only participated in the IT part of the project. I'm getting there!

A structuring project to prepare for the future (Florian)

In January 2016, my big project was to set up an ERP at BonneGueule , which caused me a few cold sweats. These drops of water did not fall for nothing because today, it is this tool that we use on a daily basis... and you too indirectly.

This is partly what allows us to:

• You can cash out quickly in store;

• Check if your favorite/desired garment is available in your size at the store . Is the sticker green? It's in stock (within the limit of quantities available at the time t);

• Manage in-store pick-up orders in real time (the famous click & collect ). You can order from the e-shop and then pick up your order in store (and try it on, of course).

I insist on instantaneity because we are the only ones to do it. For you, we give everything 🙂

And of course, you will have the same welcome and the same services in Lyon as in Paris, under the leadership of Céline and Alexis 😉

A strong and essential step (Maxime)

The opening of the Paris boutique was one of BonneGueule's highlights in 2015, it was the culmination of several months of work for the entire team. I remember its layout, everyone had put their heart into it so that we could open on time . I even had to sit on Florian's lap in the van loaded with clothes heading to the boutique! (#Thuglife)

Today, clothing brands are strongly advised to be able to have their pieces tried on before purchase. The customer can therefore come and see the product, touch it, try it on and also receive advice. Because yes, this is also what a physical store must provide as a service, and it is the core business of BonneGueule!

This is why it was all the more legitimate for BonneGueule to have its own boutique, which brings together all our know-how, from the clothing brand to style advice. We are always happy with Antoine to share the passion for clothing that drives us!

Every morning I get up to go to work, it's with a smile because I know that I'm going to find an incredible team and meet new people, who enjoy coming to see us!

A human experience (Antoine)

I arrived last November, after Romain, and, from the first days, I immediately knew that this was not a store like the others. It had to be a continuation of the site , a warm place where you can spend 5 minutes to say "hello", just like an hour if you want to try the whole store 😉 . It is also reassuring for the customer to be able to try, touch the pieces.

As Florian said, we put different actions in place - and always try to find others - to make your experience as pleasant as possible. There is a real relationship of trust with our customers, who have realized, at the end of this past year, that we have the same kindness in store as on the site. For me, it is so nice to see the satisfaction of our readers when they try on a piece, that my advice reassures them or helps them.

The shop also allows some people to put a face to BonneGueule, I explain that the team is not made up of robots (I have a doubt about one member 😉 ). We have also set up a courier service at the shop , which allows you to have your purchase delivered later in the day, to the office or to your home. This is still something we need to work on.

More personally, it's a real pleasure to be in the store. Every day, I have sincere exchanges with our readers. I try to give them as much advice as possible so that they always feel good when they leave. I really have a special relationship with them and it's very enriching for me .

A new adventure begins: BonneGueule sets up in Lyon

Thinking outside the box for you

We know where our customers and readers are thanks to Paul – our super growth hacker – and this allowed us to identify the cities where it would be good to go and meet you. The Tour de France was a magnificent human experience , full of lessons and particularly rich, which pushed us in our desire to develop elsewhere than in Paris ... and especially not to do like the others.

Usually, brands open a first boutique in Paris, then a second and, once they have covered the capital, the model moves abroad. Then, very secondarily, in the regions through resellers.

Always keeping our mission in mind when making decisions - helping men feel good in their clothes - We have chosen to position ourselves in locations that would serve the greatest number of our customers.

We haven't forgotten those who only have access to the e-shop. The complicated process of returning products could be a hindrance, today we have further simplified the return form (exchange or refund) and they have even become free !

But that's not all and we continue to think about other options, because not everyone can go to Paris to go shopping.

A carefully chosen city: why Lyon? (Elie)

Lyon is a superb city. For a Parisian (but not only), it is the dream city:

• Many move there to find a better quality of life;

• Highly appreciated as a fertile economic hub;

• The town remains relaxing, a stone's throw from the ski slopes;

• There is real comfort there (especially in terms of accommodation).

It is a city that attracts a lot of traffic from surrounding cities such as Saint-Etienne, Chambéry, Clermont-Ferrand, Grenoble, Annecy and Geneva, so it is an attractive hub that brings people together!

A real offer is developing in Lyon with brands like Jimmy Fairly, but there are not yet many of them leaving the European capitals to come to the provinces.

Many of you have told us that the offer could be more complete in the mid/high-end niche and, despite the (very nice) multi-brands like Summer Store present in Lyon , we feel that an offer like BonneGueule would have its place on the men's market.

Especially since after visiting Printemps (and meeting their teams), we said to ourselves that in Lyon, a bit of novelty might be appreciated by men!

The pop-up store test (Anaïs)

My research began when I arrived at BonneGueule, at the beginning of December 2015.

After having drawn up a well-filled specification and spent long hours on the internet, on various apartment search sites that you all know, we realized that we were going to struggle .

Opening a store is a complicated thing, already considering the many criteria to take into account, but opening a pop-up store for two months is downright mission impossible.

Never admitting defeat , we therefore took up our notebooks and reviewed our objectives. What were the most important elements:

• The location,

• The surface,

• The distance to the nearest Ricard?

And we found our grail in the intimate Ainay district, in a spacious art gallery. The surface area allowing it, we quickly decided to share our space with some friends from the area, also very keen for an adventure of a few weeks in the region.

As a result, from April 1, 2016, many of you came to meet us and encourage us in this new adventure and that greatly rewards the weeks of stress that have passed .

Shortly after the opening, while touring the neighborhood with Elie and Samy (from Hast), we had the chance to meet Myriam from the very cool boutique Arpete, located at 3 rue Henri IV. Unlike us, they were looking to set up in Paris in the Haut Marais. We are now the new happy tenants.

Profiles sharing our values ​​(Anaïs)

For the recruitment of our Lyon store manager, we received more than fifty applications, each one as interesting as the next. In search of the rare pearl , the interviews followed one another relentlessly for nearly three months, by telephone then by Skype, so that the various interlocutors of the team could also give their own opinion.

The tricky part of this position was finding someone who combined:

• Experience in this field,

• Ability to understand and transcribe our values ,

• Sharing our desire to pass on to men our love of clothing .

After weeks of searching (and waiting for them, sorry about that), we took the train with Elie to meet Maxime and Céline. We initially had a crush on Maxime , but things happened that he couldn't accompany us at this point in the adventure (but it's only postponed, right Maxime?).

So it was with Céline that we were finally able to open our first boutique in the region. Huge satisfaction, Céline is truly wonderful . Quickly, thanks to your enthusiasm, we were able to expand the team by welcoming Alexis, whom you were able to meet on Friday and Saturday. Thanks to them, our success depends a lot on it <3

"A sincere and lasting relationship" with you (Celine)

Already two months in the shop! It went by so quickly, it's a great experience! I found in the readers and customers what I wanted to find by working in the shop: a sincere and lasting relationship .

Big pressure because, when I came to the offices in Paris, I had a little glimpse of the active community that followed BG, since the beginning for some! When I was at the boutique on rue Commines, I was able to see that the readers/customers knew almost all the pieces by heart.

While I was just discovering the blog, the brand... I absolutely had to not disappoint them, manage to let the BonneGueule spirit of the media shine through in the store. I knew that customers would not come to buy clothes per se, but to live a different experience and buy "a BG garment", with this feeling of having something unique and rare in their hands.

So it was necessary to master all the technical details straight away, read as many blog articles as possible, and that was a success because they like to know everything about a piece.

Customers are kind, with this desire to be advised, to talk about the blog. For them, the store is the physical transcription of it . They like to tell us how much they enjoy reading the articles, that the blog has really helped them develop their style, gain self-confidence... It's the best reward.

In Lyon, there is a real demand to discover new brands, they are always surprised when we direct them to other names. It is a real friendly exchange, we take the time whenever we can to chat with them, ask them questions about their life, their passion etc... It is a relationship that is built.

The culmination of a project: presentation of our new boutique (Elie)

The new store will be located at 3 rue Henri IV, in the 2nd arrondissement of Lyon, Ainay district.

It is located a minute's walk from the Ampère – Victor Hugo metro station (line A), 7 minutes from Place Bellecour but also from Gare Lyon Perrache. We thought that in terms of accessibility, it was not bad 😉

It is a neighborhood in full reconversion , today much more lively in the surroundings like the streets Auguste Comte and de la Charité, where many brands choose to set up (Agnès B. for example, but also smaller ones). JC, owner of L'homme Lyonnais , confirmed to me that it is a neighborhood that is diversifying more and more.

And if you're feeling peckish, don't hesitate to stop by Two Amigos. Right next to our shop, it's a really nice restaurant.

How to keep up to date with news from the BonneGueule store in Lyon?

Well, here we enter the complicated part.

It is always difficult for us to find the right balance between not being too intrusive, and informing you effectively on very specific subjects related to the store for example.

The best way to stay informed is to like our Facebook page (we announce everything there!), but above all, to activate all notifications by clicking on the Like button :

Now, when you just like a Facebook page, a lot of the news doesn't show up in your newsfeed by default. Personally, for the pages I really like, I turn on all notifications.

Please know that we are doing our best to have as targeted communication as possible! For the moment, we have not found a better way to communicate directly with the people of Lyon 🙂

The date and opening hours of the store

After these wonderful testimonies from the entire team about this great adventure, it is not without emotion that we announce that the store will open this Thursday, June 2, 2016 at 10:30 a.m. It will then be open from Tuesday to Saturday, from 10:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

As a reminder, it will be located at 3 rue Henri IV, 69002 Lyon. And if you wish to call Céline or Alexis for any information, the store number is 04 72 16 00 91.