Canadian Retailer - Winter 2013 - 14

RETAIL LEADERS

in its early years. Alain, however, had
no interest in buying the company
back for himself. He was only interested in doing so if there were some
succession planning involved. He
asked Jennifer if it was something
that she would consider.
“It was a big decision for me to
make at the age of 21,” she explains.
“But I already possessed a passion for
retail. And I already loved this company—I loved what it was about and
how it was started. I didn’t have to
think about it too long. My immediate
reaction was a resounding ‘yes!’”
Hard work and understanding

Though her reaction may have
been immediate, however, she was
well aware that her rise to ascendancy within the company would not
be. It was going to require a lot of hard
work; hard work, at the insistence of
her father, which involved working in
every role and covering every aspect
of the company, from office administrator to area supervisor. She even
moved to Chicago where she was responsible for overseeing the opening
of the company’s six stores there.
“I’ve learned so much during this
experience about production, training, hiring and building a region.
I’ve worked within an HR function,

have worked customer service in our
stores, managed stores, and have led
operations. I’ve pretty much worked
within all of the facets of the business
leading up to where I am today. Doing things this way has afforded me
fantastic learning opportunities and

prepared me for my role as president.”
It’s the skills that Baird has picked
up while working in all of these capacities that she credits for her early
successes. She also explains that the
intimate knowledge of the company
and all of its facets that she now pos-

JENNIFER BAIRD ON RETAIL LEADERSHIP, THE CUSTOMER, AND ASSOCIATE TRAINING
How important is skills development and training
at Stitch It?
The Clothing Alterations profession is a lost skill in
North America, so finding ways to preserve this skill
is of the utmost importance. At Stitch It we also rely
on our Seamstresses, Tailors & Fit Experts to give
the highest level of customer service. It’s the Perfect
Storm. We embrace this by finding the right person,
giving them a reason to care through recognition,
and the potential to increase their earnings at the
company. Through our extensive training we also
provide encouragement for growth which can lead to
internal promotions. Our philosophy at Stitch It is that
if our associates grow, the company grows. And, if the
company grows, then our associates are presented
with even more opportunities. Our last AGM focused
on providing the "Why" for our associates. And, we
feel strongly that the extensive training programs that
we offer provides our associates with a reason and
incentive to want to learn and grow. Our philosophy

14 |

also provides great growth opportunities for many new Canadians. Stitch
It has become a great opportunity for our many first-time Canadian
associates.
How do you listen to your customer?
We are on all available media channels—social media, surveys, emails—
but I think the biggest advantage we have is our 650 associates who are
on the front lines every day. They know what our customers want and,
in many cases, because our stores are small and usually only have 6-7
associates they are able to react immediately right at store level. They
are then able to gather the feedback and relay the information back to
head office so that we can share experiences across the other 86 stores.
This allows us to understand our customers preferences and desires and
then act on the information to service them better in-store.
One of the new concepts we are launching this year has proven very
successful for some of our fellow retailers. We will be creating an online
focus group comprised of willing customers from our NeedlePOINTS
loyalty program. We are really looking forward to talking directly with
our customer base and getting direct feedback.

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Canadian Retailer - Winter 2013

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