The recession risks that are plaguing Europe have triggered an exodus of brands from shopping malls, in what seems to have turned into an opportunity for Turkish retailers.
Mall investors have particularly shifted their focus to Turkish brands that attended the largest annual international gathering for retailers, MAPIC 2022.
More than 80 firms and a delegation of 250 people attended the landmark event joined by the world’s leading retail brands and real estate players. The fair in Cannes, France ran from Nov. 29 through Dec. 1.
Companies gathered at the Turkish Brands booth under the coordination of the Istanbul Apparel Exporters’ Association (IHKIB) at the fair, with Alkaş serving as MAPIC’s Türkiye representative.
The Turkish booth included many prominent players such as AC&co Altınyıldız Classics, Chakra, D’S Damat, Ipekyol, Kiğılı, Madame Coco, NaraMaxx, Nebim, Penti ve Perspective. Among others, Tavuk Dünyası and GAGAVA attended the fair with their own booths.
Hilal Suerdem, deputy chair of Kiğılı, stressed the fact that the fair was extremely dynamic this year, also highlighting what he said was a “warmer approach” toward Turkish brands.
Haluk Özkarakaşlı, the head of NaraMaxx, stated that it was important for Turkish brands to take part in such a fair. “This is an important platform for brands to show themselves,” Özkarakaşlı said.
For their part, Osman Çavuşoğlu, Altınyıldız general manager in charge of international operations, emphasized that they have grown abroad and turned the crisis into an opportunity after the coronavirus pandemic.
Penti International Franchise Manager Yavuz Mert stressed there has been a high demand for Turkish brands from many places after the recession in Europe.
Sabah, the flagship publication of Turkuvaz Media Group and its sister newspaper of Daily Sabah gathered the attending retailers at a dinner event it organized on the sidelines of MAPIC.
The event at the Hotel Barriere Le Majestic was attended by Suerdem, Özkarakaşlı and his wife Yeliz Özkarakaşlı, İpekyol member of the board Necdet Ayaydın and Alkaş Consultancy Chairperson of the Board Avi Alkaş, among others.
Retailers extended their appreciation for Turkuvaz Media Group’s support and efforts to promote the Turkish retail industry.
Meanwhile, retailers have started to open stores in the metaverse as well. NaraMaxx’s Özkarakaşlı said they have been continuing their activities in the women’s clothing sector for more than 10 years.
He said the whole world has seen more clearly with the pandemic that keeping up with digital transformation is one of the most powerful ways to increase brand awareness.
“Since 2020, we have added digital transformation to our brand values, started to make new investments in the field of technology and have established a digitalization team within our company. In the past two years, we have achieved projects in the fields of blockchain, NFTs (non-fungible tokens) and the metaverse. We have opened a store on the Decentraland platform, one of the first metaverse projects,” he noted.
