Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Gulf News
Discount designer outlets increasingly meeting needs of Arabic-speaking shoppers
Dubai A growing number of UAE residents have become increasingly important to the European “Chic Outlet Villages” run by the Value Retail company, a spokeswoman said.
Value Retail CEO Desiree Bollier said of the group’s nine European villages in Europe and China were their number one customer base, followed by Russia and the UAE.
“The UAE customer is a very important patron of our villages,” Bollier said.
“They like to travel with family and children, large entourages of friends, demanding quality and luxury. We fit very well in all those demands.”
The Outlet Villages have been providing an increasing number of extra services to cater to this growing segment of customers, she said.
“We have VIP lounges and translators on site,” she said.
“During Ramadan we try to understand what type of food they require after fasting and we open late to cater for them.”
High end luxury
The villages are described as offering high-end luxury items for discounts of up to 60 per cent, and tax-free savings of up to 15 per cent for non-EU residents.
Value Retail’s nine villages are said to offer more than 870 designer outlet boutiques in cultural and shopping capitals including Paris, London and Brussels.
Value Retail started in 1995 and now features outlets for designers including Armani, Alexander McQueen, Gucci and Jimmy Choo.
“Year on year we have experienced double digit growth since we’ve built our villages,” Bollier said.
“Our offer is counter-cyclical. It goes against the cycle in any downturn economy in a sense that in a very good economy we’ve always been a great place to shop as it’s a nice destination and people can indulge themselves at full price.
Good proposition
“But during the downturn, they still see us as a good proposition.
“Consumers who did not want to trade down on quality but were confronted with being smarter in the way they needed to shop could also benefit from the shopping villages,” Bollier said.
In 2009 the Chic Outlet Shopping Villages welcomed over 25 million visitors, and experienced a year-on-year quarterly growth in tax-refunded sales throughout 2009, Bollier said.
Quarter one of 2009 saw a 55 per cent increase, quarter two a 47 per cent increase, quarter three a 54 per cent increase and quarter four a 51 per cent increase.
“On average throughout Europe, 40 per cent of our customer base are tourists,” she said. “With local tourists counted on top, the percentage would be over 50 per cent.”
25m
number of shoppers at Chic Outlet Villages
870
discount designer outlets in Europe
40%
of customers in Europe are tourists
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The UAE customer is a very important patron of our villages. They like to travel with family and children ... demanding quality and luxury. We fit very well in all those demands.”
Desiree Bollier
Value Retail CEO
By Aya Lowe?Staff Reporter
Gulf News 2010. All rights reserved.
