Trzydzieści lat minęło: rozmowa z Markiem Piechockim, prezesem LPP

Hi, welcome! 30 years — a lot of time, and yet it passed like a single day. We'll probably find out soon.

Listen, I think dreams are hardest for young people, because that's when we want to enjoy life, that's when we want to have fun. As he says, he wanted to become a skater — he wanted to have fun. In my opinion, that's a hidden thought. Unfortunately, in my times there were far fewer possibilities. We also wanted to enjoy life. Actually, if you think about what Marcin said, he wasn't thinking about his professional future — he was thinking about the here and now, about having fun. So I certainly didn't have dreams like 'what would you like to do professionally.' I really had a problem deciding what I would do in life as I approached the point of choosing university and what to study next. And honestly, looking at my children — I have four — I think each of them has the same problem I had: what will I study, and what will I do? I see this in my oldest sons, Piotr and Marcin, and the same in the youngest, who is now 19 and facing a decision about what he'll do in the future. Not much has changed because it's a difficult decision. When you're 19, you don't really know what you want to become either. Besides, throughout life, things change many times. You're an exception — we'll get to that — but ultimately you ended up in the Department of Civil Engineering at Gdańsk University of Technology. So why that choice?

I come from a very small town, Kościerzyna, and when I didn't know what to study, the first thought was that I seem to have more technical competencies — math and physics — so it must be something closer to the polytechnic. And someone told me, listen, in a town like Kościerzyna, buildings are being built and will continue to be built, so construction seems the safest bet — you'll always find work. So I went into construction. And contrary to appearances, after the first year I already knew I probably wouldn't work in the profession. The choice was very pragmatic but also made out of ignorance. On the other hand, looking at many people I meet, very few of them work in their chosen field. University isn't a place where we must declare ourselves once and for all. Look at Marcin — he studied electronics and telecommunications, worked for several years in banking and IT, managing systems around the world, and ended up in the family firm. Studies don't determine our future, but they certainly educate us. I think your studies could have helped you with planning and creating new buildings for LPP — you probably had more knowledge than others, right? The substantive knowledge certainly helps when it comes to construction investments — something stays with you, you remember. But on the other hand, I think studies are important for a different reason — not because of the substantive knowledge, but because we learn how to learn, how to take in new things, how open we are, how we handle problems, how we prepare and formulate our thoughts precisely in some form of presentation. That's largely what university is for — not whether you can do something specific. Technical professions teach you to calculate, estimate, and predict in a certain way, while other professions — we have many artists, graphic designers, designers here — they learn something different. But I'm convinced universities teach something completely different from what's sometimes written in the title — whether it's civil engineer, mathematician, or whatever. Critical analysis and the ability to find information are the key things.

Those were different times. Keep in mind that studying in the early 1980s was a somewhat different era, even in terms of the prospects you had — not what you'd do later, but what you could do. The horizons weren't as wide as young people have today. It basically meant you'd end up at some local company. For example, I thought I'd end up at a construction company in Kościerzyna as an engineer, and that already seemed like a big success — especially since I didn't want to join the party and didn't have those connections. In those times, anyone who wanted to achieve something had to sign up. But then '89 came, everything was overturned, and it turned out you could do things completely differently. That was the opportunity I received and took advantage of. I always had a knack for business. That's why I told you that in my second year of studies, I realized I was only studying so I wouldn't feel worse than others — to get a degree, to be able to write that I had higher education, that I was an engineer, so I wouldn't feel morally or mentally inferior. And I'm glad I did it because I learned something else along the way — as we discussed, a different approach to problem-solving. But I already knew in my second year that I wouldn't work as a civil engineer, because I already felt you could earn much more having your own small business. During the summer vacation of my second year, I opened a vegetable stand. I did various things — I had the vegetable stand before All Saints' Day and during vacation because my mother had one before, and I saw it could be a decent business that allowed a better life. Young people should be aware that in the 1980s in Poland, people earned about 20 dollars a month. When someone went abroad, they could only window-shop — they'd walk around looking at shop windows, dreaming. But if you had a private business — which you couldn't have many of — you could earn maybe 200, maybe 500 dollars a month, depending on how the business was run. It allowed for a much better life. So after that second year, I realized I wouldn't work as a civil engineer but would have some private business — a vegetable stand, a flower shop, anything.

Listen, it's quite shocking actually because in the meantime I studied in Germany from '85 to '87. I brought back some money — for those times it was a lot, 20,000 Deutsche Marks. On the market in Kościerzyna I bought a townhouse for 350,000 Deutsche Marks. An amazing townhouse — there's a Reserved store in it now, so the story has come full circle. But then I went to the city hall in Kościerzyna and said, 'Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to open a small shop here, maybe 20 square meters.' The rest was rented by state offices from the landlord and couldn't be evicted, but there was a small space available. 'What kind of shop would you like to open?' Because in those times the flower trade was very profitable, I said I wanted to open a flower shop. But they said, 'We already have one flower shop in the market, we need a second one.' I said, 'OK, but what else could I open?' And then — a clothing shop. A small clothing shop, 20 square meters. That's really a work of chance. The second chance was that later I went to Turkey, and on vacation I saw that you could — and others did it too — buy Turkish sweaters or other Turkish clothing and resell them. I realized I either had a better eye or it came easier to me. When I bought about 10 Turkish sweaters, I sold five in five minutes. I thought, I'll go back again next week during vacation. And that's how it started — quite seriously. Later I'd bring sweeters by car, then in larger quantities. In the next season, I passed the shop to one of my friends, and I started with a partner, Jerzy Luber, to continue this international trade.

I met him even earlier — in '85 during studies in Germany. He came back a bit earlier than me; I stayed a bit longer. When he returned to Poland, we reconnected and started thinking we'd travel together. In those times, a private trip abroad was an opportunity to trade — you'd buy goods in Turkey or India and sell them in Poland for profits that covered the cost of the trip. We went on these combined trips, and it turned out it could be a real business — not just covering costs but generating nice income.

In the beginning, around '89-'90, we imported so-called ready-made garments. We'd visit suppliers, point and say 'we want this.' But in the early 1990s, more and more such goods appeared through smuggling, and we felt we had to differentiate — have something different from competitors. If you have the same thing, the competitor will lower prices and you'll be in a price war. One element that emerged was our appearance in China. I flew to China for the first time in 1991. The Chinese didn't have ready-made products at that time — they said, 'Place an order, tell us what you want, what color, how it should be.' So we started with those first custom orders. I'd say the best person to describe this is Beata Pieska, who also participated in that first year of designing the first sweatshirts and jackets. Those were the first steps in design — the necessity of placing an order, waiting three months, opening a letter of credit. The advantage was you got something unique that nobody else had on the market. And that's when we started producing under our own brand. We sold to various wholesalers in Poland — there were lots of clothing wholesalers at the time, and they distributed to small shops. Some people bought and sold at markets and bazaars. That's what trade looked like in the early 1990s — there weren't many shops yet, certainly not specialized shops like Reserved, which we created in '98. In the meantime, we were supplying hypermarkets and were one of the larger suppliers. We were learning all these things step by step. Regarding the custom sewing — I spent a lot of time in China myself, practically 200, maybe 250 days per year for several years, sitting in factories at the end of the production line, checking the quality of things, learning from old technologists. As a civil engineer, I had no idea about clothing or how to make it.

Of course, different field, but you need some imagination to understand it, how things are sewn. I think that's also from the polytechnic — a strong desire to learn, plus a different approach to solving problems. When I had a problem, like how to make a good shirt, I knew I had to buy shirts from the best manufacturers I knew in Poland — Wólczanka. I'd take five Wólczanka shirts apart down to the finest details — what interfacing, how the collar was cut, the thickness, whether one or two layers, where the arc cut was, and so on. Then I'd go to China and say, 'How do you do this? Show me. I'd like something very similar.' The difference was that I chose the materials, the pattern, the color, and so on, but when it came to technology, I wanted it done as well as possible.

It was really more of a compulsion than a passion. I was just collecting a few of those items from around '93, '95. I saw this guy walking and thought — wait, no way. Maybe. But if it's still in such good condition after so many years, it shows it was a really good product. In the meantime, things evolved so that people expect cheaper goods and change what they wear more frequently — that social expectation we simply responded to. But on the other hand, I now see a growing trend toward buying less frequently but better quality. Look at what's happening with the quality of Reserved products — in all industries, the trend is moving in the opposite direction. Things are better quality, though naturally they're also more expensive. You get what you pay for.

Listen, looking at the history, we had to constantly change — the company grew, and that's probably why. There's a saying at LPP that the only constant thing is change. We all keep repeating it. And I also had to change — my scope of responsibilities changed. As I told you, in the beginning I'd travel and sit in the factory — very simply. First, I'd negotiate with suppliers as a buyer. But once the supplier or factory started producing shirts or sweatshirts or whatever for us, I'd go to the factory, sit there like an inspector, and check whether the factory was good enough, and so on. That's why I spent so many days in China. But over time, with growth, I had to change my areas of interest and responsibility. It's a cycle. Many people who've worked at the company longer have also changed their responsibilities. I mentioned earlier that in the first year, 1991, only two people handled receiving goods — me and Ela. Sales was handled by Beata. Filip was invisible. But now, in the warehouses in Pruszcz Gdańsk, about 1,500 people work, with conveyors moving hundreds of millions of items per year — I think 415 million this year. So many others had to change too. Think of people like Michał Laskowski — he came to work as a salesperson to earn extra money for studies, and today he manages all of Sinsay sales. But in between, Michał did many things — regional representative, store manager, really in many positions. I also had to be in many positions. At first I was a fool and quality inspector, later I was responsible for increasingly larger areas. But I think the most important thing is that we try to delegate responsibilities, and we have a large number of people who willingly take them on and execute them well. That's the essence of a company. Even though I'm not able to manage everything, even with 24 hours a day. For me, the most important thing right now — I've gotten somewhat involved in e-commerce recently. As a boss, there's always a duty — maybe an unpleasant one — but where things are already going well and under control, we really need to step back and move on to new areas or problem areas. Right now, a big new area is e-commerce. When you think about it having a 25% or more share today, it's a very important area. We see it as a future area. As the head of this company, I want to be aware of what's happening there. I want to know, because the guys are doing very well — whether it's Michał at Sinsay, Radek Perć, Krystian Housie, everyone does it very well. But I sometimes support certain decisions or encourage even more intensive development of this area. The whole new world is moving in this direction, and I want to explore that path with them.

It's really a feeling of joy. And on the other hand, it's a nice thing that — I didn't discover this myself. In the 1990s we had consultants from the United States who came as part of aid to developing countries. One day I saw one of them on the market, and I said, 'What a beautiful watch.' He said, 'Listen, this isn't an ordinary watch — it's a gift from my boss for my 10-year anniversary.' And I thought, maybe I should do something for those who've worked for me. Around 2003, when ten years had passed, we did it for the first time — we bought watches for the first six people. I'm proud of it because the photo shows new employees alongside a photo of the same people after 25 years, and it's the same people. I'm proud, even though it costs the company quite a bit now — there have been years when we spent half a million zlotys on watches. About 120 to 130 people come each year. But I think it's worth it because these people have been with us for 10 years, invested a lot of energy, heart, thought — I assume they dedicated not just professional but also personal time. It's a nice moment to say, 'Hey, thank you for these 10 years.' It's a kind of symbol — I hand over the watch with these thanks, we have a nice evening, everyone comes, we rent a nice hotel, they celebrate, we toast together.

I'm proud that even then we didn't stop ordering anything — the watches, the celebration. I think it was worth it because these people invest a lot of their personal commitment, and thanks to that commitment, I believe we are where we are as a company.

What I'd like is for us to keep maintaining this growth phase. Right now it seems to be continuing. Note that this year we estimate revenues will be 14 billion, and next year significantly more, because this wave of growth gives many people a chance to develop. The wave causes that everyone — today they're assistants, tomorrow they'll be buyers, then product managers, then maybe directors. The company's growth creates something where people who work less can also develop professionally. I think that's what I wish for most — that this continues as long as possible. Looking ahead, the next few years seem to satisfy that, so I think it's good. The challenges facing the company in the coming years are exactly those challenges, because we estimate the growth will be very large. One of the challenges is growth on the e-commerce side — we see very large development. On one hand, we must meet customer expectations as they shift their purchasing from physical stores to blending the store with the internet. On the other hand, climate change is equally challenging — monitoring all those factories, keeping the carbon footprint as small as possible. It's something completely new for us. As a developing country, Poland wasn't thinking for a long time about catching up with Europe, and today we must think about catching up with Europe in terms of social and environmental responsibility. And I think this is happening — I really have no complexes or shame in this regard. For example, one of our biggest competitors, a Swedish one, still sends their online packages in plastic, while we've been doing it in cardboard for two years. It means we can do it more efficiently and quickly, caring for the environment. We can be pioneers, and we can implement these projects quickly.

Everyone must have a moment to detach from work, and I think you need to think about something else — it even helps you develop. If someone only works 16 hours and focuses only on work, that's also bad. I wouldn't want that, because whoever doesn't develop — if they don't have other interests or something that at least lets their mind rest from thinking about sales growth or the next business move. I happen to like classical music — I've been listening to classical music for over 10 years now. Beethoven, Bach, those heavier pieces. But also — I like hard rock. As a young person I listened to Czesław Niemen, Guns N' Roses, Aerosmith, very hard stuff. Then I moved to jazz. I also try to maintain some physical fitness. In winter, I always go skiing at least once, sometimes twice during the holiday break. In summer, cycling is great — though I mentioned it wasn't great this year because my wife bought one and it turned out someone had broken in and stolen it. But I still jog for 40 minutes, so that's some excuse that I maintain physical fitness too. It's about finding a balance between body and mind, so the body still serves the mind for some time. I also like photography. It's my best time — I sometimes come back to it, sometimes leave it for half a year or a year, but when I go on vacation, I like to take two cameras with me, walk through city streets, photograph people — how they behave, what they do. It's a relaxation for me because then I don't think at all about whether we're selling more or less, which next business to develop — I just look at what beautiful compositions there are, and it pulls my thoughts away from business.

I like Sopot. Saturday Sopot — you can just walk around, very original and intriguing. Sopot was lucky. And Gdańsk — along with Warsaw, it was one of the most destroyed places. If you go on YouTube or anywhere and look at Gdańsk after World War II, most of those townhouses were completely destroyed. You can see individual ones that survived — you can tell from the ornamentation, the external forms. After the war, they didn't want to rebuild properly; they just wanted them up quickly. You can see it clearly. Sopot, on the other hand, was practically not destroyed at all — maybe 10%. And it really looks nice. In the old part of Wrzeszcz, there are a few townhouses that were nice and still function. There's also beautiful nature. But I prefer the city more than pure nature. When I'd go somewhere, I liked to find the local people. For example, in China, if I stayed for the weekend, I liked to go to a vegetable market or a place where people trade and shop on Saturday or Sunday — it's interesting because you observe normal people, how they behave, what they do. And when you go to countries that are less organized — like in Georgia, I was at some vegetable markets, and it's beautiful. When we talk about healthy organic food, when you're in Georgia, it feels like everything there is healthy and organic. Try those tomatoes and cucumbers — think about the smell — it's completely different from what we have here. I also love Southern cultures — Italy, Spain — and I like the morning coffee, how they so nicely set the mood for the start of the day. I try to incorporate that into my private life and draw inspiration from it.

Those are two different things — those who have their own business and those who manage teams. For those who have or are planning their own business — they must be prepared to work significantly longer than they imagined at the beginning, and it will cost them significantly more in terms of time, energy, and thoughts than they imagine. Because, as I'm telling you, at the beginning you can't afford to unfold your mind and say you won't deal with this or that. Trust me, at the beginning of businesses it was 24 hours a day, solely to survive — so others wouldn't eat you up, wouldn't finish you off — because you have to carve out your own piece. So for those starting their own business, be prepared for a harder beginning than you think. Not because I want to discourage you, because plenty of new businesses keep emerging that find their path and grow. But you must be prepared for great sacrifice and commit your whole self. That's the motivation. You have to give it your all, so to speak, and to the point of pain. As I said, spending 250 days in China — that's a lot. When I'd return and spend time in those small villages, looking at European food, McDonald's — I'd be overjoyed just to get a hamburger. So sacrifice. But to return to the topic — sacrifice and engagement is one thing. As for team management, I think it's important to listen to people and give them the opportunity to develop within the team, because each of us, regardless of position, is some kind of leader. Whether you lead the entire company, a brand, a department, or a six-person unit — you're some kind of leader. And it's important that this leader gives opportunities and a chance for development to partners who form this small enterprise. That's one of the most important things — giving others the chance for self-realization, because only through that can you create great things. I believe that by giving chances for self-realization to many people I work with directly, I'm building the strength of the company — these relationships. Sometimes people don't believe in themselves, and you have to push them from behind. A bit of encouragement — 'You can do it, I believe in you.' Someone working at the company for four years — if someone had told them at the start of their journey they'd be doing the kind of project they're doing now, they wouldn't have believed it. But here they are, sitting with the president. So listen — believe in yourself. It's truly worth it. You have to try.

Listen, I hope there will be more and more 10-year people. We'll continue this tradition for sure. Thanks to you this company exists — I didn't develop it alone. It's all those people who worked with me and pushed it forward. Thank you very much! Thanks! Bye! Bye!