Málaga, (EFE).- Dimas Gimeno, former president of El Corte Inglés and founder of the modern Wow Concept commercial space, is finalizing the opening of his second store in Madrid, on the sought-after Serrano street, and does not rule out landing in other Spanish capitals, such as Barcelona, and even abroad, once the brand is consolidated and reaches the profitability objectives.
After leaving as chief executive of El Corte Inglés in 2018, Gimeno (Madrid, 1975) decided to start from scratch and launch his own business project, taking advantage of his more than twenty years of experience in the world of commerce and distribution.
This is how Wow Concept was born, an innovative shopping center, in which the physical and digital converge, which opened its doors in March 2022 in the central Madrid Gran Vía. The store has an exclusive design and in it you can find fashion, decoration, beauty, technology or gastronomy products, both from already consolidated brands and others born from the online world.
Second store in Madrid
“We have been open for a year and three months and it is being a tremendous learning exercise,” says Gimeno in an interview with EFE, in which he ensures that billing evolves as “expected”, for which reason he expects to reach profitability in 2025. as stated in the business plan.
The immediate future of Wow involves the consolidation of the Gran Vía business, located in the old Hotel Roma, and the opening of a second store next October on the so-called ‘Golden Mile’ in Madrid.
This new establishment will be located at number 52 Serrano, in a space that in its day housed, precisely, an El Corte Inglés establishment.
Gimeno explains that “the idea is to separate the two offers a little”, so that Gran Vía offers a product “much more casual and more accessible and young”, while in Serrano, “how could it be otherwise, there is a lot of more luxury and more fashion”. “We are going to play very well with these two locations”, underlines the manager.
Expansion plan
Dimas Gimeno’s efforts are now focused on Madrid, but once the long-awaited profitability is reached, it will be time to launch the expansion of the brand, starting with capitals such as Barcelona.
“It is a great city that also has that tourist component that is key for us, and it is also a gateway from Spain to Europe,” says Gimeno, who recalls that half of the customers of the Gran Vía store are foreigners.
On the possibility of Wow reaching other countries, the businessman replies: “Why not?” But all in due time from him.
“Fulfilling the objectives that we have set for ourselves in the coming years, we will have a digitized, fresh brand, an international name and one that will be able to consider the physical when and how it wants. But we are going to go step by step, because if we do not meet the initial objectives it will be difficult to plan an expansion tomorrow. But yes, the idea is that ”, he remarks.
A “phygital” store
The man who was the youngest president in the history of El Corte Inglés describes Wow as “a totally different, innovative space”, in which shoppers can find products and unique shopping experiences that they have not seen anywhere”.
At Wow, the barriers between traditional and online commerce are broken, giving rise to a new store concept that the manager has dubbed “phygital”: a new shopping experience in which customers can interact with products through interactive screens or virtual reality and switch at any time from the physical to the digital channel.
Gimeno assures that Wow is aimed at “customers of any generation or purchasing power”, although he acknowledges that due to the format of the store and the product offered by young people they are the majority public. “Here they find a lot of brands that are being sold in a physical space for the first time and that attracts digital natives,” he says.
And it is that the businessman, who this week has participated in Malaga in the Digital Enterprise Show (DES) technological congress, is one of those who think that physical stores, despite the rise of online business, “are more important than ever”.
The importance of physical
“There cannot be something that is only physical or digital, everything has to converge. In a very short time there will be no distribution experiences that do not embrace both modalities”, points out Gimeno, who explains that at WOW they understand this and do it “from scratch”, and that this is “the great point of differentiation” from their competitors, like the more traditional businesses or the digital ones that are beginning to think about the physical to grow.
“We do it, but without being conditioned by the past. Forgetting about the channels, physical store and online. Here is a client who wants to buy without distinction, on any channel, at all times and jumping from one to another ”, she details.
Dimas Gimeno has participated for the second consecutive year in the DES in Malaga, where he has explained the keys to his new project to a professional audience that has “access to the best technology and professionals who are making change possible” in this forum.
“For me it is an opportunity, an obligatory and well-marked item on the agenda each year, as it allows me to be with the best professionals to update knowledge in technology and innovation,” he stresses. EFE