David Pilnick

'Surprisingly, it is!' says upbeat Senior Vice President of International Business Ventures David Pilnick who touched down in Dubai this week for the launch of the new BurJuman shopping mall store before heading off to Milan to meet some of the Italian suppliers of around 70% of Saks' astonishing range of designer labels.

'We have not had any problems in Riyadh where we have our first store in the region,' he explains. 'I think this is down to our local commitment and adjustment to the local culture with separate men and women's sections, for example and our support for local designers.'

Cosmopolitan Dubai is therefore less of a challenge to Saks Fifth Avenue at the cultural level. The problem for Saks is Dubai is that this is a designer city, and Saks has a lot of competition.

'That is why 60% of our designer labels will be either new to the region, or reintroduced to the region,' says Mr Pilnick. 'We are very proud of this achievement and it has taken two years to negotiate all the agreements.'

Not that the Dubai store will be a mirror image of its New York counterpart, although the spacious art deco interior will be similar. For one thing the New York flagship is a massive 500,000 sqft.

'But they will share the same values of service, environment and merchandise,' says Mr Pilnick, a man of singular purpose and style.
'Dubai is such an anomaly in the Middle East and the most visible consumer society in the region. This is a natural market for us.'

The shareholders of Style Avenue Middle East, the Saks owner in the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar, are Damas Jewellery, Kapico Group, Chalhoub Group and Al Mana Retail. This diverse group of GCC retailers points to the fact that further GCC expansion is planned very soon.

The first target is Dubai and the location in the new extension of the BurJuman is an inspired choice. Saks Fifth Avenue will occupy around a tenth of the floorspace in this massive upmarket shopping mall in the centre of downtown Dubai.

'The Saks Fifth Avenue tradition is one of fashionable, gracious living, elegance in women's and men's fashion, and an extraordinary programme of customer service,' adds Mr. Pilnick. 'We have great confidence that Saks Fifth Avenue will do well in Dubai'.

It is impossible to begin to recite the roll-call of international designer labels that awaits shoppers. The best thing will be to go and have a look around this summer when the soft opening happens. June or July is the expected launch month.