Famous Pakistani fashion retail brands enter UAE – News

The country’s decades-old business conglomerate opens Ideas with its first store in Sharjah’s GulAhmed; plans to open two more in Dubai soon

Mohomed Bashir, Chairman, GulAhmed Group of Companies; Arif Lakhani, Director, Habib Bank AG Zurich Dubai; Shabir Merchant, Managing Director, Champion Neon; and other guests at the inauguration of GulAhmed Ideas in downtown Sharjah. —photo provided

Pakistan’s leading fashion brand, GulAhmed, has ventured into the international market by opening its first retail store in the UAE.

The more than 100-year-old business group has opened its first fashion retail store in the heart of Sharjah – Ideas by GulAhmed, launching brands such as GulAhmed, Kaaj Ready-to-Wear, Ideas Home, Ideas Fragrances, Ideas Pret, Ideas Man, Ideas children wait.

Mohomed Bashir, Chairman, GulAhmed Group of Companies, said: “Our fashion retail store brand has been named Ideas by GulAhmed in the heart of Sharjah, and this is the group’s first official brick-and-mortar store in any country outside Pakistan.” harrij times Interviewed in Dubai.

“On the consumer side, GulAhmed is our brand of unstitched fabrics for women and men – popular globally and available in different parts of the world through our dealer network,” he said.

GulAhmed Group is a Karachi-based diversified conglomerate that started trading in textiles in the early 1900s. The group then ventured into manufacturing, registering GulAhmed Textile Mills Limited as a private limited company in 1953 and listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (Karachi Stock Exchange) in 1972.

The group also operates in energy, chemicals, retail and information technology.

Industry veteran Bashir said Gul Ahmed Group chose the UAE to enter the international market because of its strong economy, excellent infrastructure and international culture.

The chairman referred to Dubai as an international financial center and said he would expand the GulAhmed brand to the UAE, GCC and MENA markets by establishing a base in the emirate.

GulAhmed Ideas in downtown Sharjah has launched several brands at the store.

“We plan to open two more Ideas by GulAhmed stores in Dubai to strengthen our brand presence in the UAE before exploring other markets in Saudi Arabia and the region,” Bashir said.

Responding to a question, he expressed his deep respect for the UAE’s visionary leadership and said consistent economic policies, ease of doing business and visa reforms will surely attract foreign investment into the country.

“GulAhmed’s idea has just successfully entered the UAE market as the group has not had any trouble with licensing, opening bank accounts and completing other documents,” he said.

Bashir, a fellow member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), was delighted to see the overwhelming response from customers at the inauguration of the first store in the UAE, saying it was only the beginning of a new era for his old textile brand.

“We are excited and ambitious to serve our customers and expand across the UAE. With the strong response from the subcontinent expat here in Sharjah, Dubai will definitely be the next stop for us to open an Ideas store there, which will continue to meet modern fashion An international standard for retail,” the chairman said.

“This is just the beginning of our international chapter and we are ready to spread our wings further as we want to cater to all Pakistanis as well as other subcontinental clients who share our ethnicity,” he said.

The chairman of the GulAhmed Group said that the UAE is a very competitive market, offering a lot of opportunities for brands that can offer quality products to customers at competitive prices.

The UAE is a very competitive market, offering plenty of opportunities for brands that can offer their customers quality products at competitive prices.

“Dubai is an exciting market that offers great opportunities. We are delighted and look forward to delighting those who live in such a strategic part of the world,” he said.

“Competition is always positive as it gives us the motivation to improve and continue to be a pioneer in the world of ethnic wear. Our belief is to continuously improve and actively meet and exceed customer expectations. We hope that with our presence, the market size will grow,” he said.

Responding to a question, he said that GulAhmed is known for its quality and the overwhelming response in Sharjah shows that the brand offers customers great value for money.

“We always try to keep a close eye on the market and monitor the changing needs of our clients to determine the strategic direction of our business. That’s why people prefer and choose GulAhmed’s Ideas for not one but many reasons,” he said.

Bashir said that the Gul Ahmed Group is confident in its prospect of entering the international market this year.

“The dynamics of the world have changed since Covid-19 and we are ready to explore new opportunities in 2023,” he said.

“With rapidly changing trends and technologies, shortened attention spans, changing political and economic situations, and unpredictable natural disasters, it is important for any business to remain agile. 2023 will present new challenges , requires timely action and pre-emptive measures,” he added.

The brainchild of GulAhmed is the organization’s first formal physical presence in any country outside of Pakistan.

“Our aim has always been to build a loyal customer, we just make sure we produce what the customer needs and the rest falls into place automatically,” he said.

In 2022, the brand will launch a new oriental women’s clothing brand “Kaaj”, targeting the younger generation’s western clothing “Salt”, and launching fragrances suitable for the whole family.

“We then also expanded our branch network month by month in urban and suburban cities in Pakistan to make our brand more accessible to the masses,” concluded Bashir.

Idea courtesy of GulAhmed

• Unstitched fabrics for men’s and women’s

• Eastern and Western clothing for men, women and children (boys and girls)

• Home textiles (bed sheets, bath towels and accessories)

• Fragrances for men, women and children

• Men’s and women’s shoes

* Within each category, a wide range of fabrics, cuts, styles, variations and finishes are available

Contribution of GulAhmed Group to Pakistan’s Economy

• Over $300 million in annual exports

• Direct employment opportunities for more than 15,000 employees

• Group sales and profits generate direct and indirect tax revenues worth billions of PKR to the government

• One of the largest composite textile mills in Pakistan

• Leading European bedding exporter

— muzaffarrizvi@khaleejtimes.com