Degrenne Paris opens boutique in Dubai Festival City

Degrenne Paris opens boutique in Dubai Festival City


Dubai, United Arab Emirates, July 7, 2009: French brand Degrenne Paris, manufacturer of exclusive table and kitchen ware, has opened its first flagship shop in Dubai at Dubai Festival City.

Chef Osama El-Sayed, the renowned TV celebrity and most trusted food expert in the Middle East has cut the ribbon of the new store in an evening ceremony held yesterday Monday (6th July, 2009) and attended by media.
“Degrenne Paris is the only brand in the Middle East to offer both casual and formal ranges of porcelain, cutlery, cookware, glassware, kitchenware, table and kitchen linen and children’s collections in a vibrant contemporary layout. Given the highly competitive retail scenario in the UAE, we count on the quality of the Degrenne Paris products to provide a unique appeal to customers,” said Clive Stanley, CEO, Retail Division, Alphamed Group, “We are confident that the Degrenne Paris brand will see the same kind of success here as in Europe.”

The Degrenne Paris flagship shop spread over 1,600 square feet, boasts a contemporary layout exuding an elegant shopping environment at Dubai Festival City. The collection combines simplicity, practicality and aesthetics.

The boutique symbolises shared pleasure and conviviality. The cherry and chocolate background enhances the appeal and the furniture display where the airy, spacious layout enhances the shopping pleasure. The layout is clever, mobile and adjustable, designed to give visitors an opportunity to touch and feel the products. Likewise, several tables are set to suggest different combinations and mix and match options.

The boutique is divided into three universes: culinary, convivial and wedding list. The latter is distinguished by a red arch where the festive porcelain collections are displayed inside four huge petals and placed above a display table designed to welcome the bride and groom.

Jacques Morand, Franchise Development worldwide, Degrenne Paris, said: “For over 60 years, Degrenne Paris has been designing, manufacturing and selling its acclaimed product range in 75 countries, with the turnover crossing 90.5 million Euro in 2008. Degrenne Paris owns four factories in four production sites including Vire and Limoges in France. It embraces distribution networks both in France as well as outside Europe, by marketing six product families including table crockery, cutlery, glassware, accessories, culinary, table linen and kitchen linen. It has also developed a subcontracting activity on behalf of third parties thus enhancing its industrial know-how both in stainless steel as well as ceramics.”

Following the two shops in Dubai Festival City and The Dubai Mall, 13 outlets are due to open in the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain over the next two years. Alphamed Group, a leader in retail franchising in the Middle East, will exclusively operate the unique Degrenne Paris retail outlets in these countries as well as manage a flagship cookery school where customers would be able to use Degrenne Paris products and get cookery tips from chefs.
Stanley added: “We are always searching for brands that bring a solid value proposition. Major real estate developers in the region have shown high interest in hosting these outlets in their shopping malls. Renowned Dubai chefs have also expressed their willingness to share their passion at the cookery school.”
Degrenne Paris also operates in the Middle East with renowned hotel chains and airlines such as Royal Jordanian and Qatar Airways.
Morand added: “The Gulf market is a world class shopping destination with some of the largest and renowned shopping malls in the world. Through our partnership with Alphamed, we can better serve our clients with products that represent superior quality. By opening this outlet, the Degrenne Paris boutique network will have 92 points of sale. The Gulf was part of our expansion agreement since a long time; however we were looking for the right representative. We are happy we have chosen Alphamed Group.”