Landmark unveils its ‘aggressive’ strategy

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Jagtiani revealed the company is “exploring opportunities” in Brazil and Russia.

UAE-based retail giant Landmark Group plans to enter Egypt and Syria as part of an ambitious five-year expansion strategy, Retail News Middle East can exclusively reveal.

"We are looking at growing in emerging markets including Egypt and Syria, while we are also exploring opportunities in Brazil and Russia," said Micky Jagtiani.

"I see the group growing constantly by way of major acquisitions in the western markets, and we aspire to become a US $10 billion (AED36.7bn) company globally with another US $5 billion in the Middle East and Indian markets, and we are confident of acquiring this goal."

The company will make its Egyptian debut in the second quarter of 2008, and is also set to launch unique, a new brand specialising in home ware, furniture and home accessories for the ‘quality segment.'

In terms of global expansion, the company aims to more than double its retail space acoss the concepts from six million ft² to 12.5 million ft² over the next three years.

"Three large markets of focus will be India, the Middle East and China, where we will be present in many important retail developments," he said.

China has only 3.6% of organised retailing, he said, a figure that has indicated the sheer volume of untapped potential.

"China is opening up to foreign investment and we plan to expand rapidly throughout the country. We have exciting growth plans across the globe and China is only our first stop," he said.

Landmark Group intends to invest US $25 million (AED 91.8 million) in China within the next six months, after the recent opening of its inaugural Babyshop outlet in Shanghai's Hongqiao district.

"It is a very exciting phase for retail businesses to enter China, which will help to develop and reform the retailing sector. We are looking at an aggressive, coherent plan for market entry and expansion," he said.

Six stores will be opened in Shanghai, set to cover 285,000ft² by 2009. A second Babyshop outlet in December, and two Home Centre outlets will open by mid-2008.

"We believe that Home Centre has great potential considering Shanghai's construction boom, while Babyshop will cater to the children's market, which has been unrecognised," he said.

Jagtiani said the company plans to re-launch Oasis Centre, its flagship mall in Dubai, next year, set to result in four levels of retail space.

"We have grown to over 600 stores across the globe with annual business revenue of more than US $2 billion (AED 7.3bn), excluding operations in India, where the company anticipates a total turnover of US $1 billion (AED 3.6bn) by 2010," he said.

The brand portfolio - currently including Babyshop, Shoe Mart, Splash, Home Centre, Lifestyle, Max and Emax - will be extended.

"We will add new concepts and stores in several new markets in the future," he added.

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