JEDDAH, 2 February — Candy Bouquet, the famous American candy franchise set up shop recently in the Kingdom hoping to tap the lucrative Saudi market.
Hassan Dahlawi, the chairman of the Saudi International Establishment and owner of the shop told Arab News why he liked this shop and how he succeeded in winning the franchise.
“When I had visited the shop I immediately liked the concept of it. The shop provides a bouquet of candies which last longer than a flower bouquet as well as giving unlimited choices to clients. I talked to the owner and asked her if there were any companies that own the Candy Bouquet franchise in Saudi Arabia. She said that five companies had been vying for it but that they had not reached an agreement. I gave her my credit card and asked her to finish the deal right away. The very next day she told me that the companies had contacted her and had been fiercely competing for the franchise but she apologized to them. I was very lucky to get the franchise that day because if I had waited another 24 hours to think I would have lost the opportunity”.
Asked about the prospects of Saudi customers taking to this new concept of gifts he said, “I believe that the Saudi market is lucrative. I believe that any new shop in the market should present new ideas because repetitive ideas can negatively affect the customers’ demand. Candy Bouquet is a totally bold idea in the Saudi market. People usually take either flowers or chocolates when visiting friends but our shop provides a mixture of these two gifts. In addition, each customer can create his own special bouquet. We have diabetic candies and a wide range of prices which start from SR150 to SR3,000”.
Speaking about the materials of the bouquets he said, “All our staff have been trained in the United States. The wrapping and decoration material is imported from there too. The candy we use has been manufactured for us from the best local chocolate and candy manufacturer. We receive new ideas every two months from the headquarters in America”.
Dahlawi noted that recently they opened a Riyadh branch and soon they will open an Eastern province branch. He also announced that he will authorize sub-franchises in the small cities of the Kingdom and that the company will provide them with ready bouquet to sell.
Besides Candy Bouquet, the company also owns the franchise of Sanrio, a Japanese company which has created famous childrens’ characters such as Hello Kitty. It sells school supplies, soft toys, and T-shirts.
Dahlawi said, “Hello Kitty is a very popular character around the world and we are trying to re-introduce it to the Saudi market. There was a Hello Kitty shop in the 1980s. We are trying to win a share for Hello Kitty and the rest of Sanrio’s characters”.
Hassan Dahlawi pointed out a major problem his company is facing. “While we had been marketing the Sanrio products we faced a big problem with counterfeiting, he said. We were shocked by the vast quantity of counterfeited products of Sanrio, especially Hello Kitty.
Since our customers are mainly kids they cannot differentiate between the original and the counterfeited products. I advise parents to take precautions because the original products are manufactured to the highest safety standards which guarantee safety use to children. They should not be fooled by the cheap prices. I also call for the anti-counterfeiting committee to eliminte this phenomena.
Recently Sanrio has added a new line for teenagers called Vivitex which will be introduced to the Saudi market soon.
