Luxury brands pin hopes on Middle East

Van Cleef and Arpels, the French luxury retailer, sees the Middle East as a prime destination for high-end shopping.

Stanislas de Quercize, the president and chief executive of Van Cleef and Arpels, said in the next two months it would open four stores in the GCC; two in Kuwait, and one each in Qatar and Bahrain. Those four represent one half of the total number of stores to be opened by of the company worldwide this year.

The company already has three stores in the UAE.

Mr de Quercize said the retailer was eager to establish a foothold in the region to prepare for the GCCs future growth.

This is the region in the world where the 21st century is being built and we want to be a part of it, he said.

Luxury sales worldwide have suffered during the economic downturn as consumers shy from discretionary purchases. Such sales will shrink by 8 per cent, to 153 billion this year from 167bn last year, the business consultancy Bain and Co says.

But Bain says the Middle East will be a bright spot for future growth, with 30 per cent of the estimated 300 new luxury boutiques to be opened worldwide going to the region.

The main reason it seems to attract a lot of high-profile brands in the luxury sector is it still has a nice amount of wealth being created in the region, and a high concentration in the GCC, said Laurent-Patrick Gally, a retail analyst at Shuaa Capital in Dubai.

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