Know how to look, listen and imagine. These are some of the skills you need to be a Rinascimento store manager. When a woman walks into a store, she must be able to explore her strengths as much as her insecurities. 

Eleonora, who has been the store manager of Rinascimento’s store in Rimini for 10 years, has mastered these skills. Eleonora walks into the store every morning, looks at it and gets it ready. She looks after it as if it were her own home and is ready to welcome customers when it opens. 

The women who come through the doors are her daily challenge. She looks after and listens to her customers because she is confident that her expertise will allow her to make each one happy and make them feel beautiful and valued.

By listening to the stories of Rinascimento’s store managers, we learnt how their work is always dynamic and challenging, and we also know that for each of them there are moments they are particularly attached to and which they would never want to give up. 
This is also true for Eleonora, who could never do without the special relationship she creates with her customers. ‘I like it’, she tells us, ‘assisting the customer...I like it when they listen to me’.

Was this the case from the very beginning? ‘Ten years ago when I started, the work was easier, you assisted the customer and the sale was quicker’. Today, the demands are ever more complex and women are looking for skills that go beyond knowing the styles and collections; but ‘with the company’s support’ Eleonora has learnt to cope with the changes over the years.

During this time, ‘there was a continuous exchange between the company and store’ says Eleonora. Through this constant communication, she learnt how to help customers feel ‘as pampered as possible’. She also mentions how she is the first to ‘feel pampered by Rinascimento in every sense because they help me grow every day’.

What are the most frequent requests customers make when they enter the shop?

‘Customers ask me with their eyes, they ask me to leave happy, satisfied and feeling good, and I try to do my best to make it happen’ explains Eleonora. She continues saying customers ‘often come in wanting to find something completely different, not too basic, so even when it comes to something like a jumper, they always look for unique details.

It’s the detail that makes the difference, transforming a garment from sporty to elegant, from delicate to edgy. Thanks to her experience, Eleonora knows how to choose the right combinations of styles and unique details to reflect the personality of the women she meets, through the outfits she creates.

For Eleonora, her job is the meeting point of her greatest passions as well as a great tool for change and self-discovery. Over the past 10 years, she has got to know her customers, the company she works for and above all herself, better and better. ‘When I started working at Rinascimento I definitely preferred more casual wear’, she explains, ‘I thought maybe I would sell more casual clothes rather than dresses. Through her work she discovered new collections and new styles full of versatile and customisable clothes, and so ‘over time I changed my mind both towards the customers and towards myself and I started wearing dresses a lot. They are practical, quick and when you put a jacket over them, they look great and you don’t have to think about anything else’.

‘Reuse is a key word for Rinascimento because many customers when they come into our stores feel like they must make a purchase and then they don’t wear it the next day’. Reuse is a topic the company and store managers really care about, which is why the in-store style consultant service is full of tips and guidelines to reuse garments and sometimes, as Eleonora explains, very little is needed to transform an outfit: ‘A leather jacket in mid-season, a shearling in winter’ to wear a dress in a ‘more versatile way’.

Don’t miss the next episode of our column ‘Store Chats’. We will take you with us to discover the beauty of our work and the passion of our store managers.

We tell these stories because we are your biggest fans and we want to brighten up your day and share the challenges and aspirations that drive us.