Esprit signs deal with Al-Futtaim to tackle Middle-East

By

Bruno Joly

Published
Dec 3, 2012

After perhaps spending too much time establishing in its home territory of Germany, Esprit is looking to take on other markets. After having shown desire to explore China and retiring from the United States, the brand is now looking at pursuing activity the Middle East and North Africa.

Esprit has signed a distribution deal with Dubai-based Al-Futtaim group, partner of huge international names such as Ikea and Marks & Spencer. The group is also known for its commercial real estate endeavors with Cairo Festival City and Doha Festival city.

The new partner will manage the brand’s thirty-something stores in Lebanon, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt. The short term objective is to double the brand’s presence in the network. In the annual report for the year ending 30 June 2012, ‘other countries’ represented 0.1% of the group’s activity against 43% in Germany, 8.6% in China and 12.6% in Benelux.