Dune London to ramp up Middle East expansion

Dubai: Footwear brand Dune London plans to step up their pace of opening new stores in the Middle East.

The company plans to open 10 locations in the region this year, with up to five in Saudi Arabia, two in the UAE (Dubai and Abu Dhabi) and the rest in Doha, Qatar, bringing the total number of stores by year-end to 42.

Last year, Dune opened four outlets in the Middle East.

The region is Dune’s second largest market after the UK, Danni Slater, the company’s international brand manager, told Gulf News. Middle East sales grew by 20 per cent in 2015 over the previous year, she said.

The expansion in the UAE comes at a time when retail sales in the country have softened due to low oil prices, which have impacted consumer confidence. Another factor is the strong US dollar, which the dirham is pegged to, against the rouble and euro that has made shopping more expensive for Russian and European tourists.

However, Slater is not worried about the slowdown in the retail market here.

“The retail market is becoming more challenging but there’s so much potential here,” she said.

Dune has over 300 stores globally.