Emirates Glass hopes to pick up 25 per cent of the 500,000 sqm retail glass market

"We are thrilled with the industry response across the region as well as in the more difficult and distant UK market where our product EmiCool is being used in prestigious projects," said Jerry Dowling, General Manager of Emirates Glass.

"Heartened by the response, we have decided to breach the retail market where we hope to pick up about 25 per cent market share," Dowling said.

He estimated the size of the domestic retail market at about 500,000 square metres of glass in the EmiCool category.

Emirates Glass has been sporadically testing the waters. "We started about a year ago, but recently we have made a conscious decision to allocate resources to breach the retail market," Dowling said.

The Emirates Glass General Manager said that since May last year, some 60,000 square metres of EmiCool have been supplied to clients all across the region.

"The Dubai Marina, Mina A' Salam at Madinat Jumeirah, the Green Community and the Park View complex in Beirut - are just a few examples of where our EmiCool range is being used," he said.

Dowling pointed out that customers such as Emaar Properties, Nakheel and Union Properties are extremely discerning clients who need first class material in their developments. "They would not be satisfied with anything less than top-quality - and EmiCool is top-quality".

Market Research
Dowling pointed out that in whatever the company does, it adopts a professional approach. Consequently and in order to make sure that EmiCool would suit household tastes, Emirates Glass has invited home owners and housewives to inspect the various colours of the glass at its facility to decide and choose which products are to their tastes and suitable for their homes.

Dowling said the reason why the EmiCool range has been extremely well received in the discerning marketplace is because it offers superb natural reflection and vision.

The high performance glass enhances ambience and creates a wonderful feeling of space. In addition to the facades glass, EmiCool offers mirrors that are supplied with a vinyl film applied on the rear surface to prevent fall-out in the event of a severe impact and to ensure safety of the home occupants.

People's Product
Dowling said there are different ranges of EmiCool, of which some would particularly suit the consumer markets such as the low internal reflection product to ensure high outdoor visibility especially at night.

"Having won the unqualified approval of specialist users such as engineers, architects, designers, contractors and developers, we are now turning to the end-user to gain his seal of approval," Dowling said.

"Our true worth will be measured by the people who actually use the product in their everyday lives," he added.

Dowling pointed out that, like in every thing else that Emirates Glass does, it will ensure an aggressive entry of EmiCool into the luxurious housing segment.

"We will position EmiCool as a "must-have" consumer brand. We will promote it as a consumer preference, giving the end-user direct access to the product in his or her house," Dowling said.