M.H. Alshaya Co.

M.H. Alshaya Co. (Alshaya), is one of the largest retail companies in the Middle East.[1] Alshaya currently manages over 55 international brands and owns and operates 2,000 outlets in 19 countries across the Middle East and North Africa, Russia, Turkey and Europe, employing approximately 22,000 people from over 80 different nationalities.[2][3]

Diversified across seven retail sectors – fashion and footwear, health and beauty, food service, optics, pharmacy, office supplies and home furnishings - brands currently managed and operated by the company include Mothercare, H&M, American Eagle Outfitters, Debenhams, Boots, Starbucks, Topshop, P. F. Chang's, Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids, Payless Shoe Source, Pinkberry, Office Depot, The Body Shop, Claire's, Le Pain Quotidien and Vision Express.[3][4][5][6]

Contents

The Alshaya group

Alshaya is part of the Alshaya group of companies, a business established in Kuwait in the nineteenth century [7] which is still family owned and operated.

As well as its retail business, the group has holdings in industries including real estate, construction, hotels, automotive and general trading in the Middle East region.[8]

Its hotel division owns the Sheraton Hotel in Kuwait and the Oberoi Hotel in Medina, Saudi Arabia.[8]

History

The Alshaya group has a history in retail dating back to the 1890s, when it began trading with India. Capitalising on the economic benefits that the Persian Gulf oil boom brought to the region, the company expanded its portfolio, branching out beyond trade into investments.[9]

In the 1950s and 1960s, the group moved into real estate and hotels, opening the Sheraton in Kuwait City in 1965 – the region’s first five-star hotel south of Beirut, and the first Sheraton outside North America. [10]

Alshaya moved into franchise retailing, its largest business operation today, in 1983 when the company acquired the Kuwait franchise for UK retailer Mothercare. Other international brands were added to the Alshaya portfolio and the business moved into new markets.
Today the company operates over 200 stores for Mothercare across 13 markets.[10] In 1999, Alshaya opened its first food retail franchise in partnership with Starbucks,[10] and now manages and operates food service brands including Asha’s, Dean & Deluca, Le Pain Quotidien, Pizza Express, Pinkberry , P. F. Chang's , Shake Shack and Texas Roadhouse .

Expansion and growth

Alshaya operates in markets where scale, infrastructure, demographics and emerging trends combine to create strong demand for high quality, organised retail. Alshaya’s move beyond the Middle East began with the acquisition of the Top Shop franchise for Turkey in 2002, the UK fashion brand with which Alshaya already had a franchise deal in the Middle East.[10]

The company then moved into the Russian market in 2005 with the acquisition of the franchise rights for Mothercare.[10] In 2007 Alshaya expanded into Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.[10]

In November 2006 Swedish clothing company H&M chose M.H. Alshaya to debut its fashion in the Middle East.[9] In recent years there has been increased interest from US brands looking to expand into Alshaya’s operating territories. Dean and Deluca was opened in 2008 while Express, Office Depot, P. F. Chang's, Pinkberry and Payless Shoe Source were launched in 2009.

In 2010, the company continued to expand its portfolio, debuting brands including American Eagle Outfitters, Pottery Barn and Pottery Barn Kids in its primary Middle East markets.[4]

Building on its introduction of multiple American retail brands to the Middle East consumer, recent agreements for Alshaya include a partnership with Shake Shack, a deal with Limited Brands to bring its brands, including Victoria's Secret to market,[11] and the securing of franchise rights for the first international outlets for Texas Roadhouse.[12]

The company continues to increase and diversify its brand portfolio in Russia, Turkey and central and eastern Europe, exemplified by the opening in August 2010 of the first Payless store in Russia.[13]

In 2011, Alshaya expanded into three new markets - the United Kingdom, with the opening of Pinkberry in Selfridges, London [14]; Iraq, with Mothercare[15]; and Morocco with the opening of the Morocco Mall in Casablanca, where seven Alshaya brands will be represented.

In October 2011, the company was ranked as one of CEO Middle East magazine's Ten Best Employers in the GCC region, based on factors including salary, benefits, chances of promotion, working conditions, perks and quality people. Alshaya was the only retailer to make the list [16].

Future plans

Alshaya has grown in recent years, opening 300 and 240 stores in 2009 and 2010 respectively [2]. In 2011, the company opened 300 new stores and created approximately 4,000 jobs. This reflects the compnay's anticipated openings of 1,250 new Alshaya stores between 2010 and 2015, at an average of 250 stores each year. [17][18]

2012 will see Alshaya continue to build its brand portfolio and expand into new areas of operation, with recognised brands including Harvey Nichols, The Cheesecake Factory, IHOP, and Kidzania, the leisure and entertainment brand. All are set to make their debuts with Alshaya, following franchise agreements signed in 2011.

A deal was announced in January 2011 with The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ: CAKE) which will see the brand’s first international expansion outside of its domestic US market, with initial openings scheduled for Dubai and Kuwait in 2012.[19].

A wholly owned subsidiary of DineEquity, Inc.(NYSE: DIN), IHOP Franchise Company, LLC, will also open the first of a planned 40 Middle East outlets in 2012, following a multi-restaurant franchise agreement made in June 2011 with Alshaya which represented the largest international development deal in the brand’s history and the first major expansion of the IHOP chain outside of North America [20].

Management

Alshaya is led by Mr. Mohammed Alshaya, Executive Chairman of the Alshaya group. In 1990 he was appointed Chief Executive Officer of M.H. Alshaya Co.,[21] the retail division of Alshaya, and then Executive Chairman in 2007 and oversees the expansion of the business franchising operation.[22]

Mr. Alshaya holds a bachelor's degree in Marketing from Kuwait University and an MBA from The Wharton School of Business, where he majored in International Business.[21]

He also holds the following positions [21]:

In January 2010, Mr. Alshaya was appointed an honorary Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in recognition of his services in developing the British-Arabic business. He was named Arabian Business Kuwait Businessperson of the Year 2010 and has been referred to by the publication as “the King of Retail” and as being “blessed with one of the GCC’s finest business minds”.[23]

Mr Alshaya is currently ranked 22nd on its Power 100 list of the World’s Most Powerful Arabs.[24]

Alshaya market presence

Brands operated by Alshaya

Fashion & Footwear

Health & Beauty

Food Service

Optics

Pharmacy

Home Furnishings

Office Supplies

Reference

  1. ^ Financial Times, From baby steps to giant growth, Tom Braithwaite, July 3, 2008 [1]
  2. ^ a b Financial Times, Retailers counter tougher times, Andrew England and Simeon Kerr, October 6, 2010 [2]
  3. ^ a b Retail ME, November 2010, M.H. Alshaya, Cover Story, A franchisee par excellence
  4. ^ a b Arabian Business, Mohammed Alshaya profile, Anil Bhoyrul, April 9, 2010 [3]
  5. ^ Gulf News, Alshaya Launches 29 retail brands in Mirdif City Centre, 29 March 2010, Irish Eden Belleza [4]
  6. ^ Phoenix Business Journal, PF Chang’s plans 34 sites in the Middle East, [5]
  7. ^ Brand Channel, M.H. Alshaya Co. Paving the Way in Emerging Markets, Mya Frazier, December 15, 2008 [6]
  8. ^ a b Arabian Business, GCC’s Most Admired Executives 2009, [7]
  9. ^ a b Mya, Frazier (15 December 2008). "M.H. Alshaya Co. Paving the Way in Emerging Markets". Brand Channel. http://www.brandchannel.com/features_effect.asp?pf_id=454. Retrieved 22 November 2010. 
  10. ^ a b c d e f England, Andrew (12 June 2008). "Alshaya Group spreads web of familiar brands through Eastern Europe". Financial Times. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b3695906-3817-11dd-aabb-0000779fd2ac.html. Retrieved 22 November 2010. 
  11. ^ Columbus Business First Alshaya holds key for retailers to Middle East piece of expansion plans [8]
  12. ^ Business First Texas Roadhouse plans to go International [9]
  13. ^ Wall Street Journal, Payless Shoe to expand into Russia, Ann Zimmerman, 1 September 2009 [10]
  14. ^ Al Bawaba, Alshaya to introduce Pinkberry to the UK [11]
  15. ^ Sky News, Kids' Stuff: Mothercare To Open In Iraq [12]
  16. ^ Arabian Business, Revealed: the Gulf's 10 best employers [13]
  17. ^ CNBC Interview with Mohammed Alshaya, 26 October 2010 [14]
  18. ^ Bloomberg, Kuwaiti Retailer Alshaya seeks to add 1,250 stores over next five years Massoud A Derhally, 26 October 2010 [15]
  19. ^ Arabian Business, Kuwait’s Alshaya inks franchise deal for The Cheesecake Factory [16]
  20. ^ Arabian Business, US pancake chain IHOP heads to the Middle East [17]
  21. ^ a b c "GCC's Most Admired Executives 2009". Arabian Business. http://www.arabianbusiness.com/most-admired-exec-2009/profile/1906. Retrieved 22 November 2010. 
  22. ^ The National, MH Alshaya reports improved sales, Armina Ligaya, May 14, 2009 [18]
  23. ^ Arabian Business, Arabian Business Achievement Kuwait Awards 2010, print edition Volume 11, June 27- July 3, 2010, page 46
  24. ^ Arabian Business Power 100 List [19]

External links

The company’s websites: