Page 18 - RLI June 2019

In May last year Ipekyol opened two stores abroad, one in City Centre
Mirdif, Dubai and another one in Mega Center in Kazakhstan. More recently the
company has opened a couple of domestic stores, in January a new location was
launched at the Teras Park shopping mall in Denizli, and another was added in
February at the Söke Novada shopping mall in Aydin. The company’s most recent
opening was at the Istanbul Airport, which was a store of great significance to the
company due to its unique location in the largest airport in the world.
“In the years ahead, we plan on maintaining our presence in our current
regions, domestic and abroad. We will also increase the number of new stores,
reach new customers with diverse tastes and continue to offer a distinguished
shopping experience,” says Ayaydin.
In addition, new markets are being explored; the brand will soon
introduce its products to customers in Lebanon, Egypt and Russia
and continue to invest in its e-commerce and s-commerce offerings.
Ayaydin feels that brands that do not follow digital trends
and invest in e-commerce and s-commerce in today’s retail
market will gradually fall away. Ipekyol’s research, development
and design teams follow closely these latest trends and focus on
digital apps and the current in-store experience to make sure
the company remains at the forefront of the market.
Embracing the huge importance of social media in the
current retail world, Ipekyol’s marketing strategy is based on “It has been a long journey for
improving brand recognition and image. They utilise important
social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to us to reach thIs poInt wIthIn
ensure pre-sale and post-sale customer satisfaction. the fashIon sector and to
The brand has built a loyal following over the years because they provIde our customers a servIce
are able to meet customer expectations by bringing new products
InnovatIve, to market consistently without ever compromising on quality; this that goes beyond a shoppIng
is largely due to their production facilities in Edirne in Turkey.
experIence”
So what does Ayaydin believe are the key drivers behind the
orIgInal, brand’s success to date?
“Self-knowledge and objective self-evaluation, if a company
wants to succeed, it should be able to reflect upon itself
entrepreneurIal objectively. This brand is strong because we can define
ourselves through the eyes of our customers, we recognise our
own potential and we can objectively identify our strengths,
weaknesses, market position, opportunities and threats and
Part of the Ayaydin-Miroglio Group which was established in 2008, Ipekyol was founded take action accordingly.”
Owned by the Ayaydin-Miroglio Group, a Turkish-Italian
in 1986 and opened its first store in Rumeli Avenue Nisantasi in 1989. Here, RLI speaks partnership, the Ipekyol brand contains the common features of two
cultures and two corporate identities. A dynamic and enthusiastic
with Yalçin Ayaydin, Chairman of the Board at the Ayaydin-Miroglio Group to talk about brand, it possesses an entrepreneurial spirit and is a prestigious, well-

how far the brand has come and what the future holds. respected company that is continuingly looking to improve itself.
Like many companies, not only within the retail sector but in
industries the world over, Ipekyol has and is continuing to exist in a
world of economic instability and political upheaval, this has been
pekyol joined the Turkish ready-made garment sector “It has been a long journey for us to reach this point within and remains the greatest challenge facing the company in 2019.
over thirty years ago, and today addresses the differing the fashion sector and to provide our customers a service that Despite this, through its experience and deep understanding
tastes and requirements of hundreds of thousands of goes beyond a shopping experience,” explains Yalçin Ayaydin, of its customers and the market in which it is in, the future
Iwoman across the world. Chairman of the Board at the Ayaydin-Miroglio Group. “In remains bright for the leading ready-to-wear retailer.
Currently the company operates 236 stores across Turkey and the past year we have improved the brand and continued “For us, 2019 will be a positive year of new projects and
40 stores abroad and has a strong customer base, particularly our investments. Our recent customer survey results show company firsts. We plan to increase the number of our stores
in the Middle East and Gulf countries. In collaboration with its that we are the first brand to come to mind in finding and abroad by 25 per cent from 40 to 50 and the number of external
partners, Ipekyol operates in nine markets outside of Turkey; offering products that meet customers’ needs. Our customers’ countries we operate in from 9 to 11. In our home market, we
these are Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Cyprus, Iraq, Kazakhstan, KSA, satisfaction is what motivates us to invest and work harder to plan on opening 10 new stores by the end of the year and we
Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE. realise our future plans.” look forward to what 2020 will bring,” concludes Ayaydin.

JUNE 2019 retaIl & leISure InternatIonal 19