Damas set to slow down 2009 expansion plans

EXPANSION PLANS: Damas is unlikely to open any new stores in the second half of 2009. (Getty Images)

Jewellery retailer Damas has seen a sales slowdown at the top end of the market in the fourth quarter of the year but stronger performance at the bottom, as turmoil in the financial markets prompts more people to invest in gold.

A number of new Damas stores will open as scheduled in the first half of 2009, but the company is unlikely to open any new outlets in the second half, chief executive Tawhid Abdullah said.

“If somebody comes to me from any part of the world and says: ‘There’s a new shopping mall opening and we would like you to take three or four stores’ I will tell him that I don’t have an expansion plan to execute now,” Abdullah told Arabian Business on the sidelines of a conference in Dubai.

Easing inflation could even be a positive for consumer in the mid segment of the market, he said, adding: “Middle class spending is not affected at all."

He further said that the company would not revising its profit forecast.

The number of tourists visiting the region appears to be unaffected by the global economic crisis, he noted.

Damas, which operates more than 400 stores worldwide, listed on the Dubai International Financial Exchange (DIFX) in July this year and has a market capitalisation of around $823 million.

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