The brand will have “close to 30 stores” by the end of the year, according to Manoj Loya, regional general manager for Middle East, North Africa and Turkey at Godiva. Currently it has 17 outlets in the region, and ultimately aims to double that number, primarily through new launches in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
Flagship rollout
“What we’re starting right now, in Saudi and UAE, is to ensure we have a good number of flagship stores, to ensure the consumer experiences the brand in totality – get to see and try all our core offerings, and all the newer items we have launched recently,” said Loya.
Godiva will also be opening two more stores in Kuwait, and three more in Qatar, he added: “It’s not just confined to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, it’s evenly spread everywhere. Saudi and UAE of course are bigger in size, and also very strategic in terms of the brand, and this is where we are doing things ourselves, and managing stores directly.”
Godiva had worked solely through resellers and distributors in the region for most of its 25-year history with the Middle East, until it set up a direct subsidiary in the UAE last year. Along with improving support to its existing partner stores, the company is making the most of its new-found control to launch more ambitious outlets in the GCC.
“There are two main aspects which have changed. One is the speed at which we would like things to happen, and which we can support. The second is how the brand is managed – this is a problem many companies face. Some are able to manage with only their official distributors or resellers, and some are supported by having some equity stores, which represent the brand in the most appropriate way, and shows the way we would like things to happen,” said Loya.
“If you come and visit any of our newer stores, you can see the difference – they are much bigger in size, they have a far bigger variety to offer, and the experience is of a completely different class,” he added.
Ice cream payday
While the directly-managed outlets may offer more, Loya believes Godiva’s expanded presence will benefit all of its stores, as consumers now have a much greater exposure to the brand. And with its direct presence, the company is also able to extend the brand into new categories such as cafes, or with new product ranges such as ice cream.
“Chocolate ice cream is a new thing in this part of the world, and it’s doing extremely well – our sales from Godiva chocolate ice cream are around 12-15% of our entire sales, which is phenomenal. This is something we weren’t able to do earlier, with the limitations we had in terms of the formats and arrangements with our existing stores,” Loya said.
Godiva is also now offering localised Ramadan collections, with custom packaging design, and some custom-made chocolates created specifically for the season and the region, along with its existing product ranges.