The Chalhoub Group is planning to open about 40 luxury stores in Abu Dhabi within the next two years. The company, which has links with high-end luxury brands like Fendi, Chanel and Fifth Avenue, has high hopes for the Abu Dhabi luxury market. Mansour Hajjar, managing director of Allied Enterprises, Chalhoub’s UAE avatar, said that the Abu Dhabi plan of 2030 is on track and progressing at the right pace unlike Dubai which is moving too quickly.
At the end of 2010, Chalhoub had eight stores in Abu Dhabi. Now it is looking to increase that count to 50 by 2013. The luxury retailer opened six stores in the Abu Dhabi mall within the first three months of 2011. These include Lacoste and Marc Jacobs among other big brands. Several brands under the retail group record increased sales thanks to Abu Dhabi locals who shop in Dubai. Carolina Herrera recorded over 30 percent sales from Abu Dhabi buyers. This attempt to open more stores in Abu Dhabi would focus much of those sales in this city itself.
Within the next few weeks, the group will be launching Abu Dhabi’s first Carolina Herrera store. It will help, of course, that several big malls are coming up in Dubai. These include the Mushrif Mall, the Bawabat Al Sharq Mall and the 9712 BMC. Chalhoub already has plans to launch up to 26 stores in the city by year-end. What this means is that the emirate could soon have access to a wider luxury market, since the Chalhoub group has links with some 280 luxury brands.
Via: The National
