The chairperson of certainly one of Türkiye’s main clothes retailers, LC Waikiki, hinted not too long ago on the potential of reentering the Syrian market if stability returns whereas additionally highlighting the corporate’s achievements and rising turnover on the time when it marked its fifteenth anniversary within the international area.
“Before the war, we had a store in Syria and were making efforts to expand rapidly there, even establishing our own company. Recently, we’ve received requests asking, ‘Would you provide a dealership or a franchise?’ But that region is geographically close and familiar to us. If stability returns and things calm down, we will go there ourselves,” Vahap Küçük, chairperson of the chief board of LC Waikiki, stated.
Speaking at a news convention held within the Serbian capital, Belgrade, to mark LC Waikiki’s fifteenth anniversary within the international area, Küçük stated that the LC Waikiki model operates 1,300 shops throughout 61 nations on 5 continents.
He famous that the corporate achieved a turnover of TL 207 billion ($5.9 billion) in 2024, reflecting 55% progress.
“We have increased our branded export figure to $1.2 billion. We have become market leaders in 23 countries. Our brand continues to expand its physical investments with a store area of 2.1 million square meters, welcoming 17 million visitors to our stores weekly,” he stated.
“Throughout the year, we connect 600 million products with customers worldwide. By 2025, we aim for 40% growth, targeting a turnover of TL 290 billion,” he added.
He additionally emphasised plans for e-commerce progress of 70%, aiming for a turnover of TL 15 billion, alongside a plan for TL 5 billion funding in logistics and digitalization.
Furthermore, Küçük additionally highlighted the corporate’s efforts when it comes to instructional and social assist, mentioning they’ve allotted 15% of its internet revenue in 2024 for social help.
LC Waikiki, initially based in France, turned a Turkish group in 1997 after being bought by Tema Tekstil. It gained important reputation within the home market, and lately, it has expanded additional globally by opening shops in some African nations in addition to Latin America.
Providing extra particulars on the corporate’s future aspirations and plans for enlargement, Küçük stated that in addition they goal to open shops in developed markets reminiscent of France and the U.Okay. in 2026 and that they are going to proceed to deepen their presence in current nations till 2026.
Stating that the variety of nations within the overseas market would attain roughly 80, he additional stated, “We can enter 20 more countries by 2026. Latin America was a great opportunity for us. We are also growing rapidly in Africa. If we start growing in the West, we can achieve our goals.”
In line with this, he additionally revealed the enlargement on the facet of logistics. While recalling that they’ve three most important logistics facilities, he additionally stated that also they are making a know-how funding, mentioning the involvement of AI and robots find and arranging merchandise to be shipped to shops.
“We have made a lot of investment in that regard. Now we have started to build logistics centers in big countries. We are building them in Kazakhstan; we are about to finish the construction,” he stated.
On the facet of Syria, Küçuk stated that the developments are comparatively new. “We are waiting too. Hopefully, the order will be established soon. Before the war, we had a store in Syria and we made efforts to establish stores quickly there, we had established a company ourselves,” he defined.
“Recently, we started receiving requests saying, ‘Would you give us a dealership, a franchise?’ But it is a geography that we know well, a close geography. If order is established and things calm down, we will go there ourselves. Time will also show whether works will be established or not,” he stated.
LC Waikiki, which started its globalization journey by opening its first retailer overseas in Romania in 2009, at the moment reaches tens of millions of shoppers throughout a large geographic space, extending from Latin America to Africa, Asia to Europe.
The model, which entered new markets reminiscent of Chile, Guatemala, Ivory Coast, Somalia and Mongolia in 2024, additional consolidated its presence worldwide with its sturdy retail community.
Source: www.dailysabah.com