Interview with Jean-Luc Boschard, Director of Leroy Merlin in Nice and serial intrapreneur

A spirit of initiative encouraged by the company culture

Since his arrival at the head of Leroy Merlin in Nice, Jean-Luc Boschard has put into practice, on more than one occasion, this entrepreneurial freedom encouraged by ADEO.

So in 2018, faced with the difficulty of filling his store – a store with reduced surface area but generating significant turnover – he was looking to optimise shelf placement (MER) and decided to outsource to a partner service provider, GSF, to have it during the night.

At the same time, aware of the impacts of climate disruption, especially after the damage caused in the hinterland by storm Alex, he undertook, along with his leadership team, to set up a dedicated team to support energy renovation of the home. “This way we improve our company’s usefulness to society”. . Last October, he followed the example of the delivery hub introduced in Rosny-sous-Bois. “We are lucky to work in a company that generates numerous innovations and to have employees and leaders who share”.

Two years ago, the Director of Leroy Merlin Nice confirmed his appetite for intrapreneurship by embarking on an innovative project, the beginnings of which he recalls: “With two Store Leaders, Mickael and Stéphane, we noticed a rate of penetration in the heart of the city of Nice that was much lower than around the store. So we thought about a way to attract customers living in self-sufficiency in their neighbourhoods”.

An operation similar to that of a start-up
So begins a path initiated by market surveys that aimed to identify the most relevant and profitable market segment, in this instance, the kitchen.

“With intrapreneurship, we take into account national data while looking at the realities of the local market”. Jean-Luc Boschard and his employees therefore decided to open a showroom-boutique in the centre of town, coordinated by sales advisors and offering turnkey services, from design to completion. First of all, they needed to draw up the key success factors. For example, this involved using specialist merchant codes and building a real boutique, without the self-service aspect, deploying the best sales advisors and working on the basis of appointments. “We wanted to project an expert image and create the customer and the sales advisor journeys in symmetry, to make them as smooth as possible”. Then came the moment when Jean-Luc Boschard had to defend his case before his area leader and the ADEO CEO, who reacted positively. “My experience worked in my favour and the fact that I was not asking for funding”. The budget was in fact, taken from the store’s operating account. Next, the actual location needed to be chosen, which turned out to be rue Masséna in Nice, a residential neighbourhood, then the boutique and its layout had to be built.

Another way in which intrapreneurship is similar to the functioning of a start-up is in the potential reversibility of the concept. This principle is called “Lean start-up”. It implies that the project is regularly evaluated and may be subject to pivoting: “We can say ‘stop, let’s end this’, or find another way to move forwards, with the intention of adapting as much as possible to customers and the environment”.

The first promising results
AFollowing the set up of the kitchen boutique in July 2019, Jean-Luc Boschard and his team presented two more similar projects, a bathrooms’ boutique, created in October 2021 and another one devoted to decorating and lighting, which came into being last November. The Leroy Merlin kitchen boutique in the heart of Nice has conquered its targeted customer-base, with 350 kitchens completed every year and a shopping cart higher than in store. The bathroom boutique will be revised, even if the initial outcome is positive. “We need to improve our support of older customers who want bathrooms that are suited to growing old at home”. Finally, the last boutique aimed at window decorating and lighting has been received with enthusiasm. City dwellers living in homes with high ceilings are proving to be very fond of made-to-measure items.

“We were able to accomplish these projects because we have set up a new governance, based on shared decision-making”.

An ode to the collective
“I could do none of this on my own”, this is the credo hammered out by the Director of Leroy Merlin Nice. In fact, he considers himself to be the salesman of the interpreneurial adventure, a sort of catalyst, at once determined, inventive and well-surrounded by excellent professionals from all generations and equipped with a keen sense of sharing: “We were able to accomplish our projects thanks to a new governance within our store”. In fact, the brainstorming sessions are organised in units, each centred on a topic, and bringing together employees who meet the triptych of “appetite, skill, availability”.

“The Power to act is shared in the same way as decision-making. We reflect the sharing of ownership, ability, knowledge and will, which are so important in our company”. Outside, the store works with its ecosystem, based on the principle of win-win partnerships. As such, it works with a local delivery company based in Nice called Transcan, another that prepares orders, and artisans, all of whom are partners, as well as a start-up that has designed a customer geolocalisation and CRM system.
While Jean-Luc Boschard’s team continues, in parallel, the extension of the store, the intrapreneur highlights “the spirit of conquest that drives all his employees”. For his part, he is already thinking about a new project, a hardware store in the centre of town with services for assistance in home-repair. We can safely say that the intrapreneurial mindset is certainly well-rooted with him…

Le parcours de Jean-Luc Boschard en 4 dates

→ AUGUST 1990 : Jean-Luc Boschard arrives at Leroy Merlin Nice as a head of sector trainee
→ JUNE 1999 : he is appointed Director of Leroy Merlin Perpignan
→ MAY 2004 : he opens Leroy Merlin Vallauris
→ SEPTEMBER 2016 : he becomes Director of Leroy Merlin Nice