UAE. Luxury jeweller and watchmaker Cartier is to open several new boutiques in the UAE and Saudi Arabia as it makes a new push into the growing Middle East market, according to Carter chief executive Bernard Fornas.
Cartier aims to be the leading jewellery and watch brand in the region within the next five years, he said.
“I have told my people that we have to regain our market share in the region. We have been too shy in the past,” Fornas said in remarks published in Gulf News.
“We want to really open up Saudi Arabia. I believe we were late getting there. Turkey and India are the other markets which are high priority,” he said.
Fornas also sees Cartier moving into India, which will be complemented by the opening of a liaison office, most likely, in Dubai.
Presently, Cartier operates seven outlets in the region, including three in the UAE and one in Saudi Arabia.
On the global outlook for the luxury goods market, Fornas commented: “It is not a sparkle, but a fire that we are seeing in markets from the US to Asia.
“Only in Europe do we see the recovery more as a sparkle, since the economic conditions are still not that good,” he said.
