Al Futtaim to open French fashion ba&sh outlet at City Walk in Dubai

While the UAE’s luxury retailers are feeling the brunt of the strong dollar and the fall in high-spending Russian tourists, the Al Futtaim group has plans to open another high-end boutique.

The UAE retailer is bringing the French fashion house, ba&sh, to the Middle East, with the first outlet set to open in Dubai’s City Walk in the fourth quarter.

There are plans to launch six more boutiques and three concessions in department stores over the next three years. The brand is expected to expand into several territories within the region.

The company was not available to comment on the likely cities ba&sh will be available in.

“This partnership will add exciting new markets to ba&sh’s global network and at the same time provide Al Futtaim’s customers in the region with a much wider shopping choice,” said Paul Delaoutre, president Al Futtaim Retail. “We are confident that this iconic brand will be very popular among the large fashion-conscious clientele in the region and will add to our many success stories.”

Luxury retail has suffered a marked slowdown in the UAE as the low oil price and other factors have hit spending.

The chief executive of luxury retailer the Chalhoub Group said last week that sales were down 2 per cent in the first quarter of 2016 but believed sales would recover for the rest of the year.

An industry expert, however, only expects recovery for the luxury market in the mid-term eschewing the double-digit returns previously available and stabilising at 4 to 5 per cent.

“This partnership is a key stage in our international expansion strategy,” said Pierre-Arnaud Grenade, chief executive of ba&sh. “We are very happy to bring ba&sh to this receptive market that is a keen follower of fashion and the Parisian look. Al Futtaim’s strong knowledge of retail within the Middle East will accelerate the international influence of the brand and we look forward to realising a fairly rapid expansion plan by 2019.”

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