Saudi Gazette

DUBAI — Raza Beig, CEO of Middle East retail giant Splash, expressed happiness that his company is to soon celebrate its 25th anniversary.

He told the Saudi Gazette in Dubai that this year will be a celebration year for Splash and that there are many surprises in store for customers. “People ask me how I feel celebrating 25 years, I feel grateful and I feel very emotional,” he said.

Beig believes the loyalty of customers is a huge part of his company’s success. “I feel grateful because people in this region give us a lot of love and affection. The customers have stayed with us, forgiving us for our mistakes and helping us to grow. So I feel gratefulness for that. The reason I feel very emotional is because this a baby that we started 25 years ago and now it has become a young adult. A lot has happened and I feel very good about it,” he said.

Splash has about 250 stores in the Middle East, including in Saudi Arabia. The company works hard to maintain the quality of its stores. “We have about 250 stores now in the region. In this office that we are in there are 250 executives who actually ensure that everything in our stores looks right, from the product point of view and from the quality point of view. Our management style is very hands on,” he said.

Speaking about how Splash is continuously improving, Beig said “I can only tell you that we’re improving ... we started to consult to get the right consultants in ... we have a lot of right partners coming on board and they are all helping us to ensure that the business looks good.”

The retail market in the Middle East is highly competitive and this is something that Splash realizes. “Everyone is our competition. When we started 25 years ago, there were very few competitors so now I think we have many competitors from Europe, Turkey, Hong Kong and from everywhere. We have a lot of competition but because we have over the years worked to meet our customers’ needs we have customer loyalty and have been able to maintain a share in the market.”

Commenting on the Saudi market, he said “Saudi Arabia is the biggest market. Saudi (Arabia)is a big market and we have a very loyal consumer base there. Our business is attached mainly to Center Point and our main portfolio is through Center Point. We have a lot of love and affection there. We have over 130 Center Point stores and about 15 standalone Splash stores. We have over the years gained a share in the market because of customer support.”

Discussing what Splash is planning for its 25th anniversary, Beig said “I think the best part of Splash is going to start now because I think since we have learned many thing over the years it is time to implement them this year. This is the year of celebration and we are going to do a lot of activities for our customers to thank them for shopping at Splash. Throughout the year there are going to be a lot of gifts handed out and activities and we will be doing a few things for sure.”