The Lebes Group’s trajectory is, without a doubt, a story of business transformation. Founded as a business of dry goods and wet goods in the interior of Rio Grande do Sul, the company crossed economic crisesmodel changes and decades of reinvention until becoming a group with expected revenue in the billions.
Grupo Lebes was born in retail and today is among the 10 largest department chains in the country with more than 300 stores and an industrial operation that produces, on average, 800 thousand pieces per year.
A story that began 70 years ago, when the father of the current president of the group opened the family’s first department store. Since assuming the presidency in 2015, Otelmo Drebes has expanded the operation, integrated seven business units and redesigned the company beyond retail, creating a true ecosystem that should reach R$2 billion in revenue this year by combining logistics, the textile industry and financial services.
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The president of the group participated in the program From Zero to Topwhich tells the stories of successful companies.
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To take over the company created by his father and other partners, Otelmo Drebes left his career at Banco do Brasil. “I was earning a good salary at that time and I resigned. When I did so, my boss sent me to the doctor. Asking to leave Banco do Brasil was as if you had a psychological problem”, he recalls with a laugh.
When I arrived at the business, the scenario was worse than I imagined. “It would be from minus zero to the top. The company had many partners and was completely in debt”, he stated.
The strategy was to reorganize the corporate structure and grow gradually. “Either I work to grow the company and then buy the other partners or I buy the partners first and then it grows”, says Drebes.
The path chosen was the second. The acquisition of shares allowed for faster decisions and planned expansion, initially concentrated in the region itself.
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New business model
Over time, the group left the supermarket segment and began to focus on the department store model, with verticalized operations and a strong presence in the interior. But proximity to customers and local communities has always been a competitive advantage in relation to large competitors.
“People go to our store to drink chimarrão. On the birthdays of around 500 employees, I call them even if I’m traveling. I have control of that. The satisfaction that people have is so great that it creates an emotional bond. Whether it’s with a customer, supplier or employee that we work with, I really preserve that”, he states.
Today, the company brings together retail, logistics, credit and its own clothing industry operations. The expectation is to maintain sustainable growth, without sudden movements. “I can’t think about major expansion. I need to work a little more with my feet on the ground. A lot of people depend on me. I need to keep this within a certain stability, with a little growth”, he concludes.
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To find out more details about the entrepreneurial journey of Otlemo Drebes, from Grupo Lebes, see the full episode on . The program is available in its podcast version on the main streaming platforms such as , , , and
About From Zero to Top
The Do Zero ao Topo podcast is a production of InfoMoney and brings, every week, the stories of prominent women and men in the Brazilian market to tell their story, sharing the biggest challenges faced along the way and the main strategies used in building the business.
