by Sunil Bali, 07-07-13

Lorenzo Fluxa was faced with a problem.

Although his shoe store in Barcelona was doing well, he couldn’t afford to acquire a new store without it turning a profit, pretty much immediately.

A typical redesign, refit and decoration of a shop would take several weeks. Time which Lorenzo couldn’t afford.

Lorenzo decided to be honest with his customers and tell them that he couldn’t afford to be closed for this period of time, and simply do the best he could with the money he had.

This meant having a couple of recycled tables for all his shoes, and a wall on which his customers could write and leave their thoughts.

The opening of Lorenzo’s second store was simple, quick and inexpensive. But what would his customers think? Would he actually have any customers?

The messages on the walls showed that Lorenzo’s customers valued his honesty, transparency and vulnerability and that they preferred the rustic looking store to his original store.

And so the "Walk in Progress" concept was born.

Today, Camper shoes have over 300 stores in 30 countries.

It’s amazing how far a little authenticity will go.

Humour

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Sunil

www.sunilbali.com