Dubai: Swiss watchmaker Saint Honore is planning to open 70 stores within stores, or designated retail areas in a store, in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries over the next five years.
The new retail areas will bring the company’s total number of stores within stores in the region to 150, the company’s president, Thierry Fresard, said in an interview in Dubai on Tuesday. He declined to provide an investment figure for the expansion.
This year, 15 Saint Honore stores within stores are expected to open in the GCC, mainly in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, which account for 65 per cent of the company’s regional sales.
The Middle East is Saint Honore’s largest market, representing 35 per cent of the company’s turnover, according to Fresard.
“The market is oriented toward luxury items. Consumers always want something new so for us this is a place where we can expand our business,” he added.
Fresard expects a 10-15 per cent revenue growth in the region in 2015 compared with the previous year, driven by the opening of new stores.
Iran is another market that the watchmaker is planning to expand further in. It currently has 10 stores within stores in the country, with a plan to have a total of between 30 and 40 by the end of 2015, Fresard said.
“The market was closed in the past. It has completely changed [now]. It is a booming market,” he said.
Saint Honore’s stores within stores are located in Paris Gallery in nearly all of the emirates.
