Baku, Azerbaijan, Sep. 17
By Fikret Dolukhanov – Trend:
A popular Turkish clothing manufacturer LC Waikiki plans to open a number of stores in shopping centers in Tashkent, the Uzbek news portal Spot reported referring to the Eurasia Group, which will become a local partner of the famous brand.
Managing Director of the Eurasia Group network Pascal Pouyet noted that the company had long planned to open LC Waikiki stores in Uzbekistan.
"We have managed to bring this brand to Uzbekistan in 2018 and we look forward to the opening of the first LC Waikiki store in the Eski Shahar shopping center. We also expect to open two more branches in the near future - in the Samarqand Darvoza shopping and entertainment center (SEC) and the Compass SEC,” Pouyet said.
The retail director of the Eurasia Group Georgy Turdzeladze noted that Uzbekistan now resembles Kazakhstan back when the market was not so spoiled by international players.
"Much depends on the forthcoming reforms, in particular, whether or not the government will invest heavily in the development of tourism in the country. In this case, the retail structure will more closely resemble the Georgian market model, where thanks to tourists it is possible to get an additional volume. A loyal customs system is also necessary for such a model," Turdzeladze said.
In his opinion, Uzbekistan, for a long time being a closed country, is starting to gain momentum, provoking a well-grounded interest among international players, who, in turn, are considering different options for cooperation (direct investment or franchising/wholesale).
"We must also understand that the cornerstone of modern retail is the successful development of shopping centers. Therefore, at this stage, the pace of construction and development of new shopping and entertainment centers will strongly influence the formation of the retail structure of Uzbekistan," Turdzeladze is convinced.
The first LC Waikiki store is planned to be opened in the Eski Shahar shopping center. The area of the two-story store will be 1 390 square meters.
In April 2018, it was reported that LC Waikiki began to consider places to open its stores in Tashkent.
LC Waikiki is a company established in 1988 in France. After 1997, the brand was bought out by a Turkish company, and also continued to operate under the LC Waikiki Magazacilik Hizmetleri Ticaret A.S. brand. To date, LC Waikiki has 885 stores in 40 countries.
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