UK's Dune targets Saudi Arabia for expansion in 2015
Shoe retailer Dune says it will open three new stores in Saud Arabia within the next year, as part of continued expansion in the Middle East.
Dune’s international franchise director Ben Jobling told Arabian Business that the company has identified three locations for new stores in Riyadh and Jeddah after identifying a growing and “increasingly visible” global retail sector in the kingdom.
Jobling is in Dubai this week to launch Dune’s new season collection. Eighteen months ago the brand began a global roll-out of a new store concept that places greater emphasis on menswear and accessories, for example with a dedicated accessories wall and more space for men’s shoes.
Dune outlets in Abu Dhabi Mall and Dubai Mall were the first two stores in the Middle East to be refurbished in this way last year.
Jobling said the changes had contributed to a 30 percent rise in Dune accessories sales globally in the past 18 months, and had pushed menswear to account for 25 percent of the business from 10 to 15 percent in 2013.
Dune, which is part of Apparel Group, has 25 stores across the region – 12 in the UAE, six in Saudi, three in Kuwait, and two each in Bahrain and Qatar. It hopes to open more stores in the UAE in the next five years, but nothing is planned as yet, Jobling said.
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