DUBAI

Herschel Supply, a Canadian maker of travel accessories, opened its first store in the Middle East on Wednesday, as its founder described the opportunity that Dubai represents and the competitiveness of its retail market.

Located in the luggage and travel section next to brands such as Samsonite, Antler, and dnata Travel, the company’s Co-Founder and Managing Director Jamie Cormack says that he is very happy with the placement of his new store.

“It’s a nice strip, good foot traffic. We’re really happy with the location,” Cormack said in an exclusive interview with Gulf News.

Herschel, described in one profile by Slate magazine as a “global phenomenon,” has grown in the eight years since its inception to become one of the largest travel brands in the world, producing retro backpacks, totes, duffel bags and accessories to a market of 18-35 year olds.

The company now has 10,000 points of sale across 72 countries and a growing number of its own branded brick-and-mortar stores.

On the subject of how testing it was to secure a space at Dubai Mall, Cormack simply said: “We were searching for a while … Dubai Mall is an interesting one to get in to.”

Brands in the past have had to wait for years to enter one of the world’s most popular malls.

A spokesperson for Herschel’s local partner in the region, Apparel Group, said that they were already in possession of the space at Dubai Mall, and the mall was interested in having Herschel present.

“We pushed it hard for Herschel,” the spokesperson added.

Whilst Dubai Mall is competitive to enter, it is expensive to stay in, too.

In 2014, rent at super-prime malls such as Dubai Mall and Mall of the Emirates were priced at around Dh6,000 per square metre. It is unclear if this has changed since then.

Cormack said that the rent at Dubai Mall was “definitely an expensive place to be and a hard to place to get in to,” but added that the most important thing as a business was “to be profitable.”

The Canadian, who cofounded the company with his two brothers, clearly feels that it is worth being in Dubai Mall, despite the cost.

“There’s so much [potential in Dubai] … There’s new opportunities we’re seeing here for our product mix, to make sure we get it right in this territory.”

According to a Euromonitor report from earlier this year, despite being a highly competitive, slightly depressed market, the luggage segment still has plenty of potential in the UAE, especially the more affordable and better established brands, such as Herschel.

“There’s just so much runway,” he added.

Cormack’s optimism about Dubai extends beyond the emirate, with the executive stating that he had many plans in mind for the region.

“There’s definitely some expansions coming, we’re just working on the plan now,” he concluded.