Hot on the heels of the first store opening in Marina Mall, Abu Dhabi earlier this year, Mamas & Papas, the designer label of the nursery industry has opened a new store at Harvey Nichols in Dubai, a 12,000sqft flagship store at Al Wahda Mall in Abu Dhabi and a 10,000sqft flagship store in The Avenues Mall in Kuwait.
A further nine stores are planned to be opened by the Mamas & Papas franchise partner The Al Tayer Group in the Middle East within the next two years in countries such as Bahrain, Qatar and Oman along with three flagship stores already planned for Dubai.
Having recently returned from Saudi Arabia, the franchise team are confident of signing a further franchise agreement for this territory which has a potential in excess of 20 Mamas & Papas stores.
Currently the franchise team are negotiating with potential franchisees in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Japan. Results of these negotiations are expected to be announced within the coming months.
Allen Hill, international franchise director believes that the potential for the brands’ worldwide growth is wide-ranging and within the next 12 months the global path for Mamas & Papas will take them to Turkey, Russia, India, China, Poland, Taiwan, Thailand, Philippines and beyond. The search for international franchise partners around the world, who truly understand the value of brands and want to take ownership of the designer nursery market within the countries that they operate under the Mamas & Papas brand name, is expected to be completed in the next five years.
“The worldwide awareness of the Mamas & Papas brand has been amazing and has steadily increased since the opening of our flagship store on Regent Street in London,” says Richard Faulkner, deputy chief executive of Mamas & Papas.
“While there has been no shortage of international franchise enquiries from around the world, the key to this global expansion is choosing the right partner who shares the same vision and synergies as Mamas & Papas.”