Dijon – Quetigny – A “Vision” defined by the 28,000 employees in France

Leroy Merlin places collective intelligence at the heart of its transformation. Every ten years, employees at different sites take part in “Vision”, an approach that allows them to co-construct the company of tomorrow and define the strategy for the next decade.

Leroy Merlin places people at the heart of its strategy. “Here, it’s not like elsewhere,” says Johanna Vary. To open up the field of possibilities and starting from the principle that “everyone is free to dream of the company of tomorrow”, the leaders have set up a participative management. As early as 1995, they activated “Vision”. Taking the time to settle down, reflect, dare, innovate together, without any restraints, to move the company forward, such was the somewhat crazy but paying bet made by the management at the time.

“Almost perfect”, a novelty for 2022

“Most of the new things and changes that we see coming to our stores are from ‘Vision’,” she says.

This approach has thus made it possible to rethink the services, with in particular the take-away of goods (orders that one picks up), telephone assistance or even the loyalty card, to reorganize the spaces with the circuit store which allows you to see all universe but also to improve the daily lives of the teams. For the past year, 100% of employees, and not just managers, have been equipped with a telephone, regardless of their mission…

Latest innovation to date straight out of a “Vision”, the “Almost perfect” section which was launched this year. The principle ? Damaged, faded or incomplete products sold at low prices.

“This space was set up in mid-June in our store (opposite the checkout line) and gives a second life to products with small defects”, announces Johanna Vary.

When “Vision” integrates the company of tomorrow

So many projects thought up and dreamed up by employees and which have been developed over the years. The next “Vision” is scheduled for 2025 and will define the strategy for the next decade. “We are the only French company to do this format with 100% of our employees,” she says. The development of Leroy Merlin’s business strategy is no longer the prerogative of a very small group but is indeed the responsibility of the brand’s 28,000 employees in France.

Leroy Merlin stores, 150 in number in France, all have a number assigned according to their opening order. The very first was born in the North of France in Nœux-les-Mines in 1924. “Adolphe Leroy and his wife Rose Merlin create an American stock where they resell all the surpluses of the First World War”, says Philippe Auroux , sector manager at Leroy Merlin Dijon – Quetigny.

Over the years, store openings accelerated and, in 1981, the Auchan group bought Leroy Merlin and refocused solely on DIY (“at one time, they even sold kit houses and crockery”, indicates he). A year later, the “Dijonnaise” brand was born in the artisanal area of ​​Quetigny.

“Our stores are numbered”

“When Leroy Merlin settled here, there were fields around,” he notes. “Our store, which bears the number 18, was interpreted on May 2, 1982”, continues Johanna Vary, director of Leroy Merlin Dijon – Quetigny.

With a sales area of ​​5,000 m² at the time, the brand underwent two successive expansions, one extending to the side and the other to the rear. Moreover, “in the current store, there is a part where you can see a trace on the ground: it was the beginning of the old reserves”, she specifies.

Today, the establishment, which is celebrating its fortieth anniversary, has tripled in size and covers some 15,000 m² in total, including 9,500 m² of retail space.

Thirty students

The brand has 220 employees compared to around sixty when it opened. “The acceleration happened not so long ago: in 2020, we were 170”, finished Johanna Vary and, since last year, Leroy Merlin Dijon – Quetigny, which also opens its doors on Sundays, recruited around fifty students on permanent contracts on part-time contracts.

Isabelle DECAUX