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- I live and breathe La Vida , so it ’ s always on my mind . It ’ s a lifestyle to me , states Janne Lykkeberg Pedersen during NU ’ s visit to the company headquarters in Horsens . Quite fittingly , La Vida actually means “ the life ” in Spanish . The inspiration for the brand name comes from Ricky Martin ’ s / Julio Iglesias ’ s song “ Livin ’ La Vida Loca ” - live life crazily . - I identify with that attitude to life . I ’ m probably a little flaky myself , a typical creative personality . But now I ’ ll be welcoming a professional chairman of the board to the company - Peter Zinck , owner of Herman Zinck and known from the Inspiration retail chain . He will help me set up a more stable framework for the business , including business development , strategy plans and growth targets , says Janne Lykkeberg Pedersen .
CRAZY CORONA TIMES La Vida has come through the crisis rather well . - The season shifted in time for us because we received all of our stock very early . For the first time in the 11 years I ’ ve had the company , we had all items in stock on time . The fact that our summer holiday got a bit chaotic because we spent it unpacking products instead of taking time off is something else . Because we worked through the first months of summer , we achieved record revenue in August 2020 , says a relieved owner who is used to being busy .
A MIX OF DIFFERENT RETAILERS La Vida sells its products through a mix of different types of retailers . - My customers include gardening centres , lifestyle shops , furniture stores , hardware shops , tourist shops , and florists . Many of our customers have both a physical store
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and a web-shop . As a supplier , we suit a lot of different retailers because we have a wide product range with around 800 item numbers . To be able to continuously add new products is important to us , and when our catalogue is released it ’ s almost always filled entirely with new product designs , says Janne Lykkeberg Pedersen . But how is La Vida different from other wholesalers ? - We ’ re one hundred per cent faithful to the La Vida design DNA , which is romantic , nostalgic , and decorative . That , I think , is one of the main things . Our customers know precisely what they get with us , says the entrepreneur .
NEW B2B PLATFORM Janne Lykkeberg Pedersen plans to launch La Vida ’ s new BtB platform in spring 2021 , making it far easier for retailers to order new designs and supplements . - I ’ m very dedicated to my primary job , which is helping stores with their sales . I try to provide information about new items in newsletters and on Instagram , and I always prioritize the physical catalogue which many retailers can ’ t live without . They use it as a tool in their day-to-day business . But now we also need an up-to-date online BtB solution . It ’ s my experience that the more we do at La Vida to inspire our retailers and the simpler we make it for them to do business with us , the more they do for consumers themselves . So it ’ s a win-win , says Janne Lykkeberg Pedersen .
A NEW WAY OF WORKING - Covid definitely forced some changes online . My suppliers in China have become far better at presenting their collections professionally . I usually travel when I make my purchases , but this time I quietly selected and put the entire collection together online
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from my office in Horsens . I ’ m surprised it was actually possible but I ended up with an excellent collection . I ’ ve been very careful during the whole process , and I ’ ve also added new suppliers because I ’ ve had the time to really look at their product range . At a trade show , I might have just walked past their stand , but now that I ’ ve had the time to sit down and dedicate myself to going through their product range , I ’ ve found out that a lot of suppliers actually have more product categories than I thought , explains Janne Lykkeberg Pedersen about her work on the collection during the Covid pandemic .
CAREFULLY CHOSEN COLOUR THEMES Each collection is built up around carefully chosen colour themes that create beautiful and inspiring colour harmonies in stores - whether it ’ s a small flower shop or a large furniture and lifestyle store , says Janne Lykkeberg Pedersen , who is responsible for the entire collection development herself . About 40 per cent of La Vida ’ s revenue is generated in the export markets Germany , Norway , Sweden , Finland , Greenland , and the Faroe Islands . Its home market is still very important to La Vida and the company is a loyal Formland exhibitor . La Vida ’ s show calendar is being expanded in 2021 with in-house shows for selected export markets such as Norway . - I can ’ t wait to present my Spring 2021 season which is a great collection ! I already received a lot of positive response on La Vida for Spring 2021 during our first releases in autumn . Among the new items is a thorough selection of LED lights in many pretty , new colours , ends Janne Lykkeberg Pedersen .
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5 · MODEBRANCHEN . · ISSUE NO 01 · 2021 |