bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Al Campbell

Swire Resources is recruiting sales associates and shop managers to help with the company's growth in the marketing and retailing of sport and leisure clothing and footwear.

   The company was formed in 1990 as a separate firm from Swire Loxley, the original trading arm of the Swire empire. It operates 15 Marathon Sports stores, five Athlete's Foot franchises, two GigaSports shops, one Shoepermarket store, three M Street stores and concept shops for the Reebok, Ellesse and Rockport brands in Hong Kong.

  Swire Resources is also the distributor and retailer for other brands, including Arena, Speedo, Surf Siders, Lacoste, Sergio Tacchini, Thorlo, Second Wind, Pony, Vans, Skechers and Teva, in Hong Kong and China.

  The company claims to be the leading retailer and distributor of leisure footwear and clothing in Hong Kong, with sales approaching $1 billion this year.

  This year, the company plans to open another two or three Marathon Sports stores and two GigaSports department stores in Causeway Bay and Discovery Park respectively.

   In China, where it operates 16 Marathon shops in Guangzhou and Shanghai, it is planning to expand to 30 stores.

  Laiman Tam, managing director of Swire Resources, said the company believed the market for sports shoes and leisure wear would continue to grow and it was constantly hiring staff because of the expansion.

  'We are always looking for good managers with retail experience and sales people who are sports-oriented because we are a growing company and we want people who will grow with us.'   Swire Resources is hiring 10 sales associates to work in its retail shops. They will be the front-line retail personnel whose primary duties will be to serve customers and operate the shops.

  Candidates should be Form Five graduates who are sports-oriented and fluent in Cantonese. Knowledge of English is an advantage.

  'We want people who are outgoing and energetic and show enthusiasm for our type of business. They need to have a good attitude as well because this is a people-oriented business,' Ms Tam said.

  Successful candidates can move quickly within Swire Resources as the company has a philosophy of promoting from within and offers a systematic staff development training programme.

  The programme, developed by the company over several years, entails four weeks of comprehensive on-going training for sales associates in the first year. Staff can then advance to senior positions with further training.

   Ms Tam said the company placed strong emphasis on product knowledge as it helped sales associates to serve customers better. She said as retailing was becoming more professional and sophisticated, a company needed to be progressive in upgrading its standard of service to expand.

 'Consumers are getting a lot more affluent because of better education and economic well-being. They know what the market has to offer and what the standard of service should be.

  'As a big company, we believe we are leaders and, unless we offer the best to our consumers, we will not be growing at a healthy pace over time.'   Ms Tam said each store was considered a team of soldiers and the company organised outings such as war games and cross-training for employees as team-building exercises.

   'When you are working in a store all of the time, there is often a lot of pressure,' she said.

  'These sports activities bring out hidden qualities in people and that transcends to the working environment.'   Swire Resources is also looking for three shop managers. The position requires overseeing the operation of a shop, supervising staff, being responsible for sales targets, merchandising direction and promotional activities as well as liaising with company officials.

  The position is open to Form Five graduates with a minimum of three years of retail experience and at least a year in a supervisory position. The company prefers people who are currently working as shop managers.

  'The candidate has to have good communications skills, be committed to the company and have an show intelligent attitude towards business,' Ms Tam said.

 'We are always looking for good shop managers to promote. A number of our people go behind the scenes to join the merchandising team or the buying team for the retail shops. They can be area managers within a couple of years.'   Employees of Swire Resources receive a 13-month salary, 12 to 18 days annual leave, depending on their position, and work a five-day week. The company offers a medical scheme and hospital insurance coverage. A non-contributory pension fund is provided for shop managers and above.

  Other benefits include on-going education where the company will pay 100 per cent of tuition upon completion of a programme and language training in Putonghua, English and Japanese.

  Staff receive a 30 per cent discount on $1,000 of purchases per month and have the use of a holiday bungalow on Cheung Chau.



Swire sprints ahead in sports goods