Sportswear brand LSKD on hiring blitz ahead of its biggest Black Friday sale yet

Sportswear brand LSKD on hiring blitz ahead of its biggest Black Friday sale yet

LSKD Founder and CEO Jason Daniel (Provided)

Sportswear retailer LSKD is gearing up for its biggest Black Friday sales period since its inception 15 years ago, with the e-commerce player expecting to pack 140,000 orders from its global headquarters across the next two weeks.

The anticipated sales reflect a 55 per cent increase from the same time last year. To cope with the expected surge in demand, LSKD has hired 176 new staff to help with packing and processing during the period.

It comes after the company – which claims to have achieved $50 million in sales revenue in FY22 - set up a new global headquarters and opened its first retail outlet just south of Brisbane in Loganholme earlier this year.

Speaking with Business News Australia, LSKD founder Jason Daniel said he was feeling both nervous and excited about the launch, noting the 330-strong team had done a great job preparing for the big sale.

“To be honest, last year we actually didn't have enough stock. We sold out so quickly of certain key lines. There were a lot of learnings that we made to make sure we could give our community the best experience and give them the products they love,” said Daniel, who was named the 2021 Gold Coast Young Entrepreneur of the Year before moving the head office back to his hometown of Logan.

“From a sales perspective, we're on track to grow 50 per cent year-on-year from last year. We've worked very hard as a team to make sure we give customers the best experience for night one.

“We do have a US team and we're actually at the pointy end of signing an office for 2023 in San Diego. So that's exciting – our US team will be here for Black Friday working from HQ.”

The sale will also mark the first time LSKD will have its brand in physical retail stores, after setting up an outfit in Melbourne’s Chadstone last month. The store is one of six planned by the company to open in Australia and New Zealand.

LSKD's Chadstone Store
LSKD's Chadstone Store (Provided)

 

Daniel noted that Black Friday was as a great avenue to introduce permanent team members to LSKD as some decide to stay in the fulfilment team or move into different roles within the company.

“It’s been an honour. Last year, we had quite a few new team members stay on - they've grown their roles or moved into different roles within the brand," Daniel said.

“It's been a huge job for the team to recruit especially knowing it was hard to recruit at this time. Unemployment is at its lowest - for us to be able to recruit that amount of people has been phenomenal.”

LSKD fulfilment centre manager Murilo Fabri said the warehouse was redesigned to allow twice as much storage as last year and the installation of a new conveyor belt would allow orders to be fulfilled more efficiently. 

“Last year we packed 6,000 orders per day, so we’re trying to do 10,000 orders per day this year across 15 days,” Fabri said.

“That’s 700 orders per hour, 12 orders per minute, and an item picked per second.”

Derived from its moniker ‘loose kid’, LSKD creates and sells ‘functional sportswear with a street aesthetic’. Originally called LKI (Loose Kid Industries), the company was founded in 2007 as a wholesale business operating from Daniel's family home. After undergoing a rebrand, the company transitioned to online sales three years ago.

Since moving the company’s headquarters, Daniel noted that LSKD was able to host multiple events at its hub and give locals the opportunity to work out, shop and socialise.

“We're always doing stuff locally to involve the community. We host a lot of workouts on weekends, which aligns back to our mission to inspire people to chase the vibe through sport, fitness and adventure,” Daniel said.

“For example, on Friday, we hosted a beep test in our car park and invited local athletes and our team to join in.

“We've got different local gyms coming to use our fitness club, then we have our stores if they want to shop and a coffee shop up the front. So, we really got to create that experience for the community.”

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