George Davies, the mastermind behind Next fashion, George at Asda and Per Una, launched FG4 Kids childrenswear earlier this year and has already successfully opened 46 stores in the Middle East. Now George has launched his next stage of the brand, FG4 Women – targeted at young ladies aged 18-30 - and has already opened 16 stores in the Saudi Arabia region. The FG4 brand, a partnership between George and Fawaz Alhokair, who runs the Alhokair Group in the Middle East, has gone from strength to strength since launching at the start of the year. The Alhokair Group is one of the biggest names in the Middle East and franchises virtually every brand including M&S, Gap and Zara.
George said the Alhokair Group finds the property while George and his team work on the fixturisation and the clothing collections before bringing it all together. He said: “We opened the first FG4 Women stores in Riyadh and then rolled them out across the country with the aim to get up to about 40 in Saudi over the next six to nine months. “If you’re going to sell a unique brand you need to have some volume. You can’t just open one or two in a country. You need to go at it pretty quickly and get a number of stores over a couple of months. “I managed to do a lot of research before launching the womenswear brand. It was easier to research the kids clothing because you can see them in the street and see what they wear.
“When I started trading in the Middle East with Per Una, people said they will only wear long skirts – well that is not the case. I have been out there six times in the last seven months and the women are every bit as fashionable as women in the west. They like western brands and the western look. “Around 35 per cent of our sales on ladieswear are on dresses; dresses that are more fashionable than I have ever sold – and shorter!” George said the cultural changes made a huge impact on the way people shop in the Middle East. He explains: “The women in the Middle East know their fashion because many women do not work so they have spare time and they read the fashion magazines. “They are not into buying basic items - they want something that is special with lots of detail. The level of colours in our FG4 Women stores is fantastic; the shops look amazing. “Around 50 per cent of the population in the Middle East is under 21 – which is a big proportion. The average family has six children so it’s a very young market.
“The children are very well disciplined and girls from 14 have to wear an abaya. Most of them are chaperoned by their mother when they are shopping so there is a different approach to quality. When you build a brand it’s the attention to detail that sets you apart from the competition.” Speaking about ensuring the brand remains good value, he said: “Businesses have to stop themselves becoming bureaucratic and adding a load of overheads to the business. I go direct to factories and I have a hub in Italy, Bangladesh, Turkey, Sri Lanka and two hubs in India. You have to be lean. “I still get worried about whether a brand will be a success and my biggest challenge is always next week’s sales.”
George said some of the challenges for the Middle Eastern market include the changing climate and busy trading periods. He said he is still learning the ropes in the Middle East and has already witnessed tremendous sales during Ramadan and Eid. “There’s a hell of a lot to learn and you have to plan things differently, but our customers seem happy and so are we,” he said..”
For the full article please see the RLI November 2011 issue
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