Retailing in the Middle East the Maui Jim way

Think of fashion, shopping and well-heeled clientele and sunglasses spring to mind. Throw in year-round sun, reflective surfaces and glare and you have a sunglass vendors dream, a market otherwise known as Dubai.

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That’s the good news. The not so good news is that Dubai is the designer label and special edition capital of the world where shoppers want the best and blingiest. So how does a sunglass maker compete with world class brands in a market where, to some at least, money is no object?

Maui Jim started that job seven years ago when it opened for business in the region. The local office is managed by Martine Larroque, a veteran of doing business in the Middle East and Frannie Heine, who hails from the sunglass maker’s Peoria Illinois base back in the US. As well as building up the Middle East region from its home in the free trade zone in the emirate  it is also expanding out its sphere of influence to  South Africa.