Dubai: Dubai-based Pure Gold Group is entering Europe for the first time as it enjoys a strong domestic market.

The luxurious multibrand Arianna store, the jewellery retailer’s second after the one in Burj Al Arab in Dubai, opened on August 1 in Paris’ The Peninsula hotel. Customers can expect to find jewellery designed by Gucci, Roberto Coin, Moraglione, Leo Pizzo and Annamaria Cammilli, as well as Arianna’s in-house design team, Pure Gold said in a statement.

Arianna will be expanded to “fashion capitals of the world”, said Karim Merchant, chief executive and managing director of Pure Gold.

Pure Gold owns Arianna, Pure Gold Jewellers and La Moda Exclusives, a luxury sunglasses retail chain.

The group, which has over 100 outlets in the Middle East, India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives, is also considering expanding into the UK and “other European countries”, Merchant told Gulf News in an emailed statement. He did not provide additional details.

“We feel this is the right time to tap into the European market with a medium-term vision,” he said, attributing it to the economic recovery in Europe.

On the European market’s contribution to the company’s total revenue, Merchant said that it is too early to say. However, he expects Europe to contribute approximately 7-10 per cent of its total sales in the next three years.

Regional expansion

Regionally, too, the group is expanding its footprint. It plans to double the number of its outlets to over 250 in the Middle East and India by 2018. This year saw the opening of 12 stores and another six are set to open by year-end across the Gulf and India.

Pure Gold’s profit and sales were up 12 per cent and 8 per cent, respectively, during the first half of the year compared to the same period in 2013, Merchant said. The UAE is its top market, contributing to 65 per cent of its total sales.

Last year, the group said that it will invest Dh500 million to expand its operations in the UAE in the lead up to the World Expo 2020, which Dubai won the bid to host last November. While Dh425 million will be invested in Pure Gold Jewellers, Dh75 million will be invested in La Moda Exclusives. By 2020, the group expects to open 65 Pure Gold stores in the UAE and 50 La Moda Exclusives stores. It also said that it will invest in other fashion retail businesses.