RIYADH, 15 December 2006 — Upscale women shopping for the high fashion line now have a new hangout in Riyadh. Hunkemoller, the internationally renowned lingerie specialist from Holland, opened its doors at a launch in Granada Center - the first in the GCC states. Ronald W. Nijland, head of administrative and consular affairs at the Netherlands Embassy, opened the showroom which is a exact replica of Hunkemoller outlets in the Netherlands and all over Europe. “It’s like shopping in Holland. Everything captures the same ambience down to the interior design and flooring,” he said.
The fashion house offers a full range of haute couture, including cosmetics, lingerie and undergarments, its specialty.
The European fashion house also offers its customers in the Kingdom and the Gulf states a free check-up for the detection of breast cancer. “We are doing it as part of our social responsibility to give something back to the society that supports our business,” said Roger G. Francis, general manager of International Specialized Stores Co. (ISSCO), - the company that handles Hunkemoller and other well-known brands under franchise from Master Franchizers based in Jebel Ali Free Trade Zone, Dubai.
He told Arab News that the cancer detection tests would be run by a medical association, while they foot the bill.
He further said their feasibility study showed that with the fashion retail industry in the Kingdom growing at over 20 percent annually, the market is set for a massive expansion in terms of branded products and investment opportunities.
“We are going to open 25 stores in the GCC over the next three years, of which 15 stores will be in the Kingdom,” Francis noted, adding that the network would include six stores in Riyadh, four in Jeddah, one each in Madinah, Dammam, Buraidah, Onaiza and Qatif.
They will be based on the franchise model and will involve a total investment of SR15 million. They will be fully-owned by Master Franchizers. However, the Riyadh-based ISSCO, a subsidiary of the Al-Sadhan Group, is a sub-contractor in the Kingdom, he said.
Commenting on the bilateral trade relations between the two countries, Nijland said the Netherlands has 30 joint ventures in the Kingdom, with a cumulative investment of around $ 2.5 to $3 billion.
Some of the high-end investments were in the petrochemical sector with Royal Dutch Shell, he added. Other joint ventures were in the manufacturing, dairy and transportation industries.
Saudi investment was led by the Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), which has established a subsidiary in the Netherlands as part of its expansion program. Nijland also said that there was a 20 percent increase in the tourist traffic from the Kingdom. Most of the tourists were those bound for Spain, France and Italy before heading to Amsterdam with the Schengen visa, which entitles them to visit 16 EU countries.