Tuesday, Oct 27, 2015
Dubai: New Balance, the world’s fourth-largest athletic wear retailer, plans to open three stand-alone stores in the UAE next year through its franchisee the Apparel Group, a senior official said on Tuesday.
“We next year plan to open five stand-alone New Balance stores, out of which three would be in the UAE and two in Saudi Arabia,” Darren Tucker, vice-president of New Balance Asia Pacific, Middle East & India, told Gulf News.
New Balance has a shop-in-shop in 25 of the Apparel Group stores, and Tucker expects that to expand to around 50 stores forward.
“Their [Apparel Group] capabilities gives us the opportunity to launch in this part of the world. The plan is not to be hugely widely distributed but the plan is to make sure that we have distribution in key locations,” Tucker said.
New Balance wants to spend the next two-to-three years positioning the brand correctly and developing a sustainable model.
“The Apparel group has a great track record in building brands in the GCC, and we are looking to grow through local opportunities for local people, and invest back,” he said.
The Apparel group caters to clients through 54 international brands, which it represents through 1,000 stores. It aims to have 1,200 stores in 2015.
Quick growth
On a global basis, the company recorded total sales of $3.3 billion (Dh12.12 billion) in 2014, and employs about more than 5,000 employees in more than 80 countries.
The company grew more than 20 per cent in 2014, continuing its double-digit run that has been seen over the last four-to-five years. Most of the double-digit growth came in from Asia.
“The growth in Asia has been high double-digit, and the growth in more stable markets has been [in the] single figures,” said Tucker.
“We are still growing quickly within some of the emerging markets and we have some underdeveloped business in [parts of] the Asean [Association of South-east Asian Nations].”
The company witnessed a lot of significant growth in China and north Asia this year, including high double-digit growth in Europe, he added.
By Siddesh Suresh ?Mayenkar Staff Reporter
Gulf News 2015. All rights reserved.
