125 years of Inno: is there still a future for department stores?

Since Monday, May 2, Inno has been celebrating its 125th anniversary. Even if the first store, rue Neuve, only opened its doors in October 1897 (but we won’t quibble for a few months). The opportunity to come back to this brand known to all Belgians but which, like the entire department store sector, is going through difficult times. In the age of Amazon, does the Inno still have a future?

The story begins when the Bernheim and Meyer families open their first department store. At the time, it was called A l’Innovation and offered a revolutionary concept: a store where you could handle objects before buying them, where the prices were clearly indicated and where you could find, under the same roof and for a small price, everything a household needs. Success was not long in coming and, following the takeover of several competitors, Innovation had 36 stores in the 1950s.

Then comes the May 22, 1967. The fire in the rue Neuve. We still do not know the exact cause. On the other hand, we know the toll: 251 dead and 62 injured. A few days later, the work to clear the ruins began and, less than three years later, the store reopened, completely rebuilt to the strictest safety standards.

Ambiance

Since 2001, the Inno has belonged to a German group. There are 16 stores left. But, like the entire department store sector, the chain is struggling: already before the covid, customers were no longer necessarily there, attracted by more specialized stores, or younger and cheaper. Mainly drawn to the web. But Elly Zwinnen, head of marketing, is formal: even if the chain now has its sales site, the physical store remains essential.

” What attracts people to the stores is the atmosphere, the service and the advice of our staff. The pleasure of trying on your clothes before making your choice. All this experience that you cannot know in front of your computer. And, to reinforce our attractiveness, we are going to inaugurate coffee corners and juice bars. “

An ambiguous positioning

All this only half-convinces Gino Van Ossel. For this marketer, the store missed the mark of modernization: “The Inno remains the No. 1 of wedding lists. But we get married less and less and, when we do, it’s generally after a few years of cohabitation. Ona so already everything we needAbove all, believes this professor at Vlerick, a business school, Inno suffers from an ambiguous positioning: not cheap enough to compete with low-cost chains, and not exclusive enough to attract customers looking for luxury. Not to mention that the smallest stores do not offer a sufficient choice, for lack of space.

So, outdated, the Inno? This is not the opinion of Anaïs Bertrand, saleswoman in the store on rue Neuve and Setca delegate: ” We are making efforts to modernize and energize the shops, to offer great brands that appeal to young people. “

The challenge for this chain born in the 19th century will be to adapt to the changing tastes and new consumer habits of 21st century customers.

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