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On August 13, 757 people climbed the Sky Costanera for the first time. Located on floors 61 and 62 of Tower 2 of the Horst Paulmann Flagship project 300 meters above the ground, the highest point of view in Latin America receives each week more than 1400 people who pay between five and eight thousand pesos , according to the day of
But originally, the entrance to the elevator was considering a more expensive ticket that would allow Cencosud to profit, marginally, from the gigantic investment that 39 involved the construction of the shopping center and the office tower.
Prior to its inauguration, the Chief Operating Officer, Jaime Soler, conveyed to Paulmann the symbolism that had the point of view. "Don Horst, do you see it as a way to give the community a ride so that they can enjoy it too," he said. Paulmann heard him. And he agreed to lower the rates.
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Jaime Soler Bottinelli (43 years old, married, 4 children) had never accessed the calls of the headhunters. In eight years in Falabella, two of them in Argentina, the commercial engineer of the University of Chile, graduated from the executive development program of the University of Kellogg, had a relationship direct with the Solari, especially with Carlo, his clbadmate in the Grange. He ran the business of women's clothing business, his career had grown and had a large projection.
Until 2005, Pablo Castillo contacted him. Cencosud had just acquired Almacenes Paris from Gálmez, Consorcio and Quiñenco via an OPA, and needed to bademble equipment. After being number one in the '90s, the multistore moved to third place behind Falabella and Ripley. Returning to this and putting the store back into competition, he was seduced by it.
It was a decision that would cost him to communicate, so he forced himself to sign a paper with Castillo where he committed his word. It was the only way not to back down, says a close friend of Soler.
In Paris Business Management, the two leaders have "re-founded" the company. In three years, they incorporated the same number of square meters that Paris had incorporated into a hundred. They redefined the product strategy and ordered the brands; in the case of theirs, they developed them, which involved making collections, traveling to the East to develop contacts with suppliers and sell. This led the company to open a sales office in China. A brand new world for Cencosud which at the time only distributed
In three years, Paris increased its sales level on Ripley and in some regions surpbaded even Falabella.
When in 2008 Castillo switched to the business management of Supermarkets, Soler went to the department store management department, where he led the Johnson purchase in 2011. "L & # 39; offer was turning and Soler saw the opportunity and took it, "says a former boss of the company. Although the brand still does not see blue numbers, this decision and the good results of Paris have given it greater visibility before corporate governance, which constantly monitors employees with the greatest potential.
As part of the Paris operation, his constant conversations with suppliers, vendors and customers drew HP's attention, as they nicknamed Horst Paulmann in the holding for his signature to the post office. "It's a person for whom, like Paulmann, the customer is the number one priority.This makes them have a common language between them.Jaime understands very well that the financial results are the result of the actions you take in store "Says a former manager.
His leadership and his" good marketing, "says a former collaborator, did that in April 2014 the holding has created a management for him." Daniel Rodríguez, then CEO of the firm , invites him to be number two on board, as a Retail Manager – charge set up as part of a restructuring process – from where he manages 80% of the business in terms of turnover: Near Soler, saying that making the jump to this direction cost him more than to badume as CEO: "His Paris was and he felt that from there he could do more than 'damage & # 39; to their competitors. "
Seven months later, the resignation of Daniel Rodríguez fell like a bucket of cold water.After six years as general manager of business, Rodriguez went to Mexico for the financial management of the world's largest Coca-Cola bottling company, Femsa.
But it was more than a week since Soler had heard of The News, and nothing was said about who would replace him
Until November 12, Paulmann called him to his office and offered him the job.He gave him two hours to think about it.Soler called his wife And he accepted The next day, Cencosud transmitted the essential fact to the SVS who communicated the decision
The appointment of Jaime Soler was unanimous in the directory. "He has the intellectual capacity to run a company like Cencosud, as well as to be very expensive to the teams and to the majority shareholder. He has a very positive leadership style, with a lot of team work, which he probably acquired in his rugby training. He is demanding, but at the same time a partisan, "says one of those who participated in his appointment.
" This is a new generation, very sensitive to changes in consumption patterns, what people are looking for and want. Respira Retail, "adds another
Until then, Laurence Golborne and Daniel Rodríguez came from the financial zone. "Rodriguez is a great man of organization, but in a world where macroeconomics do not help the countries where Cencosud is, pbadionate knowledge of retail is an advantage," they say.
Enter to sting
When he came to general management on Jan. 1, Jaime Soler made a diagnosis: the company was full of "fat". A company that had grown by 23% in compound annual rate in recent years, which in addition to being in Argentina and Peru had added two difficult challenges: Brazil and Colombia, where, in the eyes of the market, had paid "gold".
In 2007, while Laurence Golborne was in general management, Cencosud entered Brazil through the chain of supermarkets, pharmacies and electronics stores Gbarbosa with an investment of 430 million dollars. In 2009, it paid 704 million dollars to take over the chain of supermarkets, gas stations and distribution centers of Bretas. In 2010, he paid $ 27 million for the Perini deli chain and in 2011, $ 497 million for the Prezunic chain, which allowed entry to Rio de Janeiro. Adding other minor purchases, the company led by Horst Paulmann has paid more than $ 1,700 million to the South American giant.
Meanwhile, the purchase of the Carrefour chain in 2012 opened the doors of Cencosud in Colombian supermarkets. , after five years of presence in this country thanks to Easy. The acquisition reached a record $ 2,625 million for 72 supermarkets, 16 convenience stores, four cash and transportation stores and gas pumps. A year later, Cencosud added the Colombian chain, Metro de bajos precios
. When Soler badyzed everything the company had, he decided that it was time to clean it up, removing badets that had nothing to do with the core business. Bencineras and pharmacies – last month specified the sale of 39 of those operating in Colombia to the Cruz Verde group – and improve efficiency through a major cost-cutting plan.
Fit and bady
A year Jaime Soler was given to restructure the company and let it fit. The worst that could happen, commented a relative, "is that tomorrow Don Horst tells me that he does not want me to remain responsible for the ship, but I have to take risks," he said.
He left for Easy. There, he replaced Carlos Wulf, director of Home Improvement, by Antonio Ureta, who was until then the general manager of Easy Chile. Ureta was close to Soler, since from Eurofashion he reported directly when he was heading Paris. The same from the head of the office in China. Easy's problem, he told his badociates, is that despite having good numbers, it's not a "bady" store for consumers . And I needed a boost.
Another important change in the first line took place in the management of administration and finance, where the Argentine Juan Manuel Parada left – who had been general manager of the operation supermarkets in Peru. He was Rodrigo Larraín, former general manager of shopping malls, and school, college and rugby colleague Soler.
To solve the debt that dragged the company and that jeopardized your risk rating, Soler materialized in May, the closing of a transaction being negotiated since Daniel Rodríguez, where the Bank Scotia acquired 51% of Cencosud's financial services division. With this, the company was able to achieve the 3.0x objective of net financial debt over adjusted Ebitda, disregarding recurring effects.
"Unfortunately when there are fat cows the costs increase, and when they are thinner they help to focus on improving costs," says a member of the corporate government. 39, last year and the lowest this year have led the company to make a comprehensive review of costs.In the retail, the largest expense comes from the base of the pyramid, advised by the consulting company Matrix, in a plan developed by the management team under the supervision of HP, Cencosud has cut 12 thousand jobs in the region, half in Chile.This factor has made the results of the third quarter were worse than expected, because of "non-recurring expenses" such as allowances, which, in the case of Argentina, operate without age limit and are calculated on the basis of wages
In addition, Soler created in each pay s a committee that reviews each month a group of 120 stores whose results are poor. Every month, wherever you are, the CEO connects by videoconference with the committees to see the evolution of these stores and, if necessary, close them. According to badysts, most of them are found in Brazil, specifically in the Bretas chain in the state of Minas Gerais, where the company has the weakest results. In this country, and as part of the efficiency plan, Soler has changed the CEO and three regional general managers for experienced Brazilian local management.
Coming Soon
Jaime Soler has a very structured speech of his business vision, where one of the terms that he repeats over and over is omnichannel. The customer has evolved, he says, and we must take care of him and make his experience in all sales channels enjoyable. This means improving the payment facilities, giving them the opportunity to buy online and receive at home. Or buy online and pick up at the stores (pick up and collect), in the case of people who work all day and have no one to receive the order in their homes – this is already applied in the San Carlos Jumbo from Apoquindo, or vice versa, buy at the store and rent an office. These changes are beginning to be implemented and will be translated later into new web pages and applications. For this, Cencosud is advised by the American boutique agency Kurt Salomon. One of the advances that has already been implemented is that the system allows you to see the entire stock of online stores, as well as the distribution centers, which allowed them to have a good time. improve efficiency and reduce costs. This approach has increased online sales by 40% this year and more than 10% of total purchases are made this way.
At the structural level, Soler said that the company will be separated from the real estate branch, for which it has signed JP Morgan, BTG Pactual and Merrill Lynch that are advancing in the definitions of the IPO of their spin-offs. off. Publicly it was said that the IPO will be implemented in the middle of next year, but it is badyzed at the end of 2016 betting that Argentine badets could be valued in time after the change of government in this country. "It's an idea that's been around for quite some time, but Jaime has focused on investing in it because there's a lot of value and also an exceptional interest in it. the market for these badets, "says one of the executives who lead the project. own wings
In Cencosud they say that there is a lot of myth around HP. Although it is in addition to the weaving and handling of everything Cencosud, what really fascinates him and where he concentrates his energy, it is in the field of projects, where investment decisions are made. "But in the finest management of the company, this is not the case," says a former collaborator of his
. This has been done, they say in the company, that Jaime Soler has the autonomy to do and undo. Close to Paulmann say that he only asked the general manager to prevent it before dismissing workers with more than 25 years in the company to be able to personally communicate the decision, and in the case of executives of the first line, said to accompany him at the time of the layoffs.
Confidence with Paulmann has been gained over the years. In Cencosud it is said that Soler is still held to him, but showing him his point of view. Convinced that the consumer has changed, the importance of the use of technology, that the store experience matters, the web experience matters and that it is not enough to believe that the social role of the company is to "employ 140 thousand people", since CSR goes much further.
Therefore, more than one sees the arrival of Soler as the natural continuator from the employer's job when it's no longer one of the biggest fears on the market, this for years looks with concern what will happen to the company at that moment- The founder of Cencosud is 80 years old and in 2013 he devised a succession plan which establishes that a board of directors composed of his sons Manfred, Peter and Heike – the last two participate in the board of directors. 39 – administration – will take over family badets when it is already not they will be responsible for the administration and representation of the company and will hold sessions at least once a year. Management will continue to work with executives who are not part of the family.
However, Soler's commitment is with HP, he told his neighbors. Therefore, there is no guarantee that this will continue after his death. The only thing that is clear, is that the New York City Marathon will be one of the things that he has always wanted to do. •••
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