Two large GCC fashion retailers plan to expand their operations in the UAE and neighbouring Gulf countries by opening approximately 40 outlets and hiring more than 1,200 employees.
Landmark Group’s Centrepoint – which houses four retail brands Babyshop, Shoe Mart, Splash and Lifestyle – will open 17 more outlets across the Gulf this year, hiring approximately more than 1,240 employees.
“We recently opened our 113th store in Ajman. Our financial year is up to June so we will be opening another 12 stores between now and then, which will take us to 125, and will have 130 stores by end-2015 across the GCC. We are overall investing about Dh2 billion,” said Simon Cooper, Head of Centrepoint.
Commenting on jobs that will be created with the opening of new outlets, he said: “We recruit on average about 60-70 people per store… we have hired 65 people for the newly-opened 2-storey store on Ajman Corniche.”
Supported by over 10,000 personnel, Centrepoint serves 35 million customers annually across the GCC and Mena region.
Bahrain-based Jawad Business Group, which has 23 retail and fashion brands under its umbrella, is also looking to expand UAE operations by opening 20 outlets and adding 300 employees.
“We have around 70-80 outlets across the UAE and expect to reach 100 in the next three years, requiring another 200-300 staff,” said Bernard R. Edmunds, Non-Executive Board Member at Jawad Business Group.
The group overall employs over 5,000 – including over 2,000 across the UAE for its 23 brands.
Edmunds was speaking at the opening of the refurbished The White Company store at Dubai Mall. The group currently runs seven The White Company stores across the UAE.
“We are selective in entering malls. We won’t go into a mall unless we get a decent location because in the past, we put the brand into a mall which was not in the right location and two years later we ended up changing or pulling out, so location is key,” said Edmunds.
Alpen Capital said in a recent report that in order to support its continued growth, the retail industry is likely to demand more human resources in the future.
“One of the major challenges in maintaining a large expatriate workforce is the high attrition rate since many foreign workers prefer to return to their home countries after making significant savings. Retailers are thus faced with the challenge of hiring and retaining talented and capable employees," the report said.
Centrepoint’s Cooper believes that the group is reaching nearly saturation point and aiming to consolidate in the neighbouring Gulf countries.
“Growth of opening stores in the UAE has slowed down; we’re reaching a point where we have enough stores in the market,” he said, adding that nearly half of the new stores will come up in Saudi Arabia. The group will open its first store in Northern Iraq this month.
The group currently operates 18 stores across UAE – five each in Dubai Abu Dhabi and two each in Ras Al Khamiah, Fujairah, Al Ain and Ajman.
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