Heaven scent

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The new concept was piloted at the BurJuman Centre.

Ajmal Perfumes’ new retail concept was designed to broaden the company’s appeal, says Selina Denman.

“Heritage is a double-edged sword,” suggested Abdulla Ajmal, deputy general manager of Ajmal Perfumes. “On the one hand you have the trust and the grounding and the foundations, but on the other hand, you are old, especially in this part of the world, where novelty is so important.”

The multi-million-dollar, family-owned business is one of the region’s leading manufacturers and retailers of perfumes and beauty products. But, after nearly 60 years in existence, it was time to closely examine the brand, explained Ajmal, the third generation of the family to be involved in the business.

“Over the last few years, we’ve been doing a lot of soul searching; questioning where we stand as a retailer and as a brand,” Ajmal explained.

By-products of this soul searching are a refreshed image and a new retail concept, which was recently unveiled at Ajmal’s BurJuman Centre store. Once it has been fine-tuned, the new concept will be rolled out across some 200 stores around the world. “It’s an AED50 million project over the next three to five years,” Ajmal revealed.

The company, an established local player, also has global aspirations, which further accentuated the need for a revamp. Essentially, Ajmal required a retail concept that would be accessible to a global audience but not so far removed from its roots to estrange its predominantly local customer base.

“When we say we want to be a global player, we truly want to be a global player. That means, wherever we are, local clientele should feel comfortable and should want to pick up our products. We needed a concept that wouldn’t be too alien or intimidating, because the Arabic perfumery tends to be very different and quite alien, if you like.”

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