A number of retail groups in the UAE, which manage about 50 brands and hundreds of stores, are to form the Gulf’s first retail association.

The association’s objectives will include advising developers on future malls, working with shopping centres’ management to improve customer traffic, and allowing retailers to share expertise, said Sajid Sayed, the general manager for Giordano Fashions.

Mr Sayed said the association would help retailers in a maturing market that was in the middle of an economic slowdown.

“There’s a lot that can be done, we just need a legal structure to (the group),” he said, adding that the group could become an official association by June.

It was consulting with retail associations around the world and seeking legal advice on how to establish the group, said Duncan McLellan, the general manager of Dubai Holding Group, which is behind brands such as Zara and Promod.

“There’s never been a forum for retailers (in the UAE) to actually get together,” said Mr McLellan. It was also thinking of linking up with a foreign retailers association.

Mr Sayed said the association would not become a lobby group to negotiate with shopping centres for lower rents.

Another objective was to improve the quality of the shopping experience in the UAE, said Keith Flanagan, the general manager of Al Ghurair Retail, which includes brands such as Triumph and Springfield.

“We want to promote excellence for every retailer, and the effect will be that developers will want to be in partnership with a professional retail body.”

Mr Flanagan hoped real estate companies would approach the association for its input on new shopping centres.

“We’re not mall developers but we do know our clients and whether there is room for another mall in a given area,” he said.

Other collaborating retailers include Kamal Osman Jamjoom, whose brands include Body Shop and Nayomi; Landmark Group, with brands including BabyShop and Home Centre; Royal Sporting House, which holds Ted Baker and Billabong; and Al Sawani, which has brands including Esprit and Benetton.

Mr McLellan said the group would be fairly small in its early stages, but the membership would gradually be opened to other retailers.

But he said it would be restricted to larger retail groups who could offer useful information to other members, rather than one-store independent retailers.

Naeem Ghafoor, the chief executive of Skyline Retail Services consultancy in Dubai, said the association was a good idea but should represent the full scope of retail, from fast food to luxury.

“It should be taken across to a wider audience and if you can tie in the Government as well, I think it’s better for Dubai all around,” Mr Ghafoor said.

“With the property market now kind of not going anywhere, with no serious growth, retail and tourism are big sectors for Dubai.”

Economic slowdown aside, the retail landscape of the UAE had changed dramatically since the boom times four or five years ago, said Mr Sayed.

In 2005, retail was new and customers were hungry for new brands. Now, the market has matured and shoppers are more savvy, he said.

“Gone are the days when you’ve just got a brand, open the store, and hope that people come in,” he said. “It’s changed. The economic slowdown has, yes, brought a certain level of reality to it, but it’s not purely because of that.”
(Published on http://www.thenational.ae on March 21. 2009 )
aligaya@thenational.ae