Giordano Continues Expansion Beyond the Middle East
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lifestyle SUNDAY, MAY 4, 2014 Giordano continues expansion beyond the Middle East iordano Middle East FZE, a leading international design stores at The Dubai Mall and Al Ghurair Centre. The of the members come from Saudi Arabia and over 30 per retail apparel brand and subsidiary of Giordano new Giordano store design direction redefines simplicity cent from the UAE. Giordano is expecting to reach one mil- GInternational Limited, continues its aggressive and embraces a more classic and refined concept. Space is lion members within the next two years as the company expansion plans in the Middle East and beyond spending maximised for product displays and customer interaction; continues to roll out innovative offers and benefits to AED50 million to refurbish, upgrade and open new stores. including wider entrances and larger, more comfortable fit- members. Within the next 24 months, Giordano is set to reach 300 ting rooms. Products are also presented in three different Giordano’s expansion plans also cover the virtual world stores in the region, adding 40 more to the current 260 ways for customers’ easy visualisation of style. Wood as it aims to grow its e-shopping network and deliveries to stores now in operation. Over the last 12 months, accents have been added to increase the feeling of warmth the GCC within the next six months. Giordano has opened 25 stores across the region. and natural space. Energy-efficient lights enhance the cus- “Shoppers today have unlimited choices in products Giordano’s first quarter results this year showed a positive tomer experience while minimising the store’s carbon foot- and a multiplying number of channels to shop through. double-digit growth over the same period in 2013. print. We are expanding our reach through the various digital A true regional retail success story, Giordano’s phenom- “As we upgrade our stores’ design, we are confident in and social media channels. We already launched e-com- enal rise started 20 years ago in Dubai, UAE, before stretch- attracting more customers to come and shop at our stores,” merce in the UAE, which is a growing part of our total sales, ing its sleeves to the rest of the Middle East, Central Asia, added Chugani. and will expand our e-commerce site across the GCC this India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Africa from its Dubai hub. In the UAE, Giordano is set to open its stores at Lulu year,” added Chugani. From its global growth headquarters, Giordano is now set Mall, Fujairah, Capital Mall, Abu Dhabi, Shindagha Center, The upgrade in store design is simultaneously support- to enter new markets in Indo China, Africa, Central Asia Dubai and Yas Mall, Abu Dhabi. Outside its Middle East ed by upgrading its product offering, bringing in more col- and as far away as Latin America. home base, Giordano is expanding in Saudi Arabia, lections for men and women, supported by optimised “Giordano is relentless in pursuing new markets as we Armenia, Yemen, Sri Lanka, Bahrain, Pakistan, Georgia, and merchandise displays making it simple and easy for cus- continuously innovate and evolve our products and image Iran, to name a few. tomers to mix and match collection pieces. “Apart from to best fit the markets. We are optimistic that we will reach Giordano customers are also growing via its card less strategic considerations, design remains at the core of our our target of 300 stores within the next 24 months,” said loyalty programme World Without Strangers. Membership capabilities and concerns. The fashion consumer still wants Ishwar Chugani, Managing Director of Giordano Middle in the Middle East now stands at 600,000 and continues to great-looking fashion that makes them feel good and look East FZE and Executive Director of Giordano International. grow. WWS is one of the first global card less loyalty pro- great,” concluded Chugani. Giordano is currently implementing an aggressive grammes to reach the Middle East in 2007. Globally, upgrade and renovation program of existing stores in the Giordano International has over eight million members Ishwar Chugani Middle East. Recently, Giordano reopened its new concept enrolled in the program. In the Middle East, more than half Efrem Zimbalist Jr star of ‘The FBI,’ dead at 95 frem Zimbalist Jr., the son of famous musical par- Kookie’s character, played by Edd Byrnes, helped ents who established his own lasting celebrity in draw young viewers to the show, and his constant hair Etwo of television’s most popular series, “77 Sunset combing created the national catchphrase, “Kookie, Strip” and “The F.B.I.,” died Friday at age 95. Lend Me Your Comb.” The program brought Zimbalist an Zimbalist died at his Solvang home in California’s Emmy nomination in 1959, but after a few seasons he bucolic horse country, said family friend Judith Moose, tired of the long hours and what he believed were the who released a statement from his children Stephanie bad scripts. Zimbalist and Efrem Zimbalist III. “A job like this should pay off in one of two ways: sat- “We are heartbroken to announce the passing into isfaction or money. The money is not great, and there is peace of our beloved father, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., today at no satisfaction,” he said. When the show faltered in his Solvang ranch,” the statement read. “He actively 1963, Jack Webb of “Dragnet” fame was hired for an enjoyed his life to the last day, showering love on his overhaul. He fired the cast except for Zimbalist, whom extended family, playing golf and visiting with close he made a world-traveling investigator. The repair work friends.” failed, and the series ended the following year. Zimbalist’s stunning good looks and cool, deductive Zimbalist had better luck with “The F.B.I.,” which manner made him the ideal star as the hip private endured for a decade as one of TV’s most popular detective ferreting out Hollywood miscreants in “77 shows. Perceiving that the series could provide the real Sunset Strip,” which aired from 1958 to 1964. As soon as FBI with an important P.R. boost, Hoover opened the that show ended he segued seamlessly into “The F.B.I.” bureau’s files to the show’s producers and even allowed which aired from 1965 to 1974. background shots to be filmed in real FBI offices. At the end of each episode of the latter show, after “He never came on the set, but I knew him,” Zimbalist Zimbalist and his fellow G-men had captured that said. “A charming man, extremely Virginia formal and an week’s mobsters, subversives, bank robbers or spies, the extraordinary command of the language.” series would post photos from the FBI’s real-life most- In 2009 the FBI honored Zimbalist with his own spe- wanted list. Some of those pictures led to arrests, which cial agent’s badge, making him an honorary G-man in helped give the show the complete seal of approval of recognition of the contributions his show and his char- the agency’s real-life director, J. Edgar Hoover. acter, Inspector Lewis Erskine, made to the agency’s The son of violin virtuoso Efrem Zimbalist and reputation. acclaimed opera singer Alma Gluck, young Efrem initial- ly appeared headed for a musical career. He studied vio- Better man lin for seven years under the tutelage of Jascha Heifetz’s “We could not have asked for a better character, or a father, but eventually developed more interest in the- better man, to play his role,” FBI Director Robert S. ater. Mueller III said at the time. During summer breaks He became an actor and “77 Sunset Strip” made him between the two series, Warner Bros. cast Zimbalist in a star. His daughter Stephanie also took up acting - and several feature films, including “Too Much Too Soon,” small-screen detective work, in the hit 1980s TV series “Home Before Dark,” “The Crowded Sky,” “The Chapman “Remington Steele.” Her father had a recurring role in Report” and “Wait Until Dark.” In the latter, he played the that show as a con man. husband of Audrey Hepburn, a blind woman terrorized by thugs in a truly frightening film. Zimbalist also appeared in “By Love Possessed,” “Airport 1975,” “Terror Out of the Sky” and “Hot Shots.” But he would always be best known as a TV star, ironic for an actor who told The Associated Press in 1993 that when Warner Bros. hired him he had no interest in Veteran actor Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., known for his starring roles in ‘77 Sunset Strip’ doing television. and ‘The FBI,’ stands outside his home, in this Feb. 16, 1982 file photo taken in Los “They showed me in my contract where it said I had Angeles. — AP to,” he recalled. “I ended up with my life slanted toward television and I just accept that,” he said. “I think you play the hand the way it’s dealt, that’s all.” In the 1990s, Zimbalist recorded the voice of Alfred the butler in the cartoon version of the “Batman” TV series. That role, he said, “has made me an idol in my lit- tle grandchildren’s eyes.” Efrem Zimbalist Jr. was born in New York City on Nov. 30, 1918. His mother, reasoning that living amid the musical elite was not the best upbringing for a boy, sent him to boarding schools where he could be toughened by others his age. But young Efrem was bashful and withdrawn in school. His only outlet was acting in cam- pus plays. “I walked onstage in a play at prep school, and with childish naivetÈ, told myself, ‘Wow, I’m an actor!’” he once recalled.