Majestic Wine is transitioning more than half its stores to a “franchise-lite” business model.
Under the new setup, store managers who become “franchise-lite” partners will be given more control over their stores, including choosing their own staff and products, dictating opening times and adjusting discount levels, without an up-front payment.
It meant rather than pursuing office-based roles or leaving the company, successful staff would “be rewarded for their customer service levels and profit contribution, which we believe will deliver more sustainable growth in our business” said Majestic CEO Rowan Gormley.
“Majestic was falling into a familiar trap where we were asking our people to do one thing - great service - and rewarding them for doing something else - sales. This move re-aligns us. It also has the potential to pay for itself multiple times over.”
It would allow chosen partners to “grow their income materially” up to £50,000 per year, compared with the average store manager salary of £30,000, as they moved from earning a percentage of sales to earning “significantly larger proportions of their store’s contribution”, he said.
The model is understood to have been tested with 21 store managers over recent months, with an eye to moving 50%-60% of its branches over to it in the next year.
Majestic has bolstered its buying team over the summer, promoting Cat Lomax from senior buyer to head of buying and appointing ex-Sainsbury’s and Oddbins buyer Julie Buckley in her former role.
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