Dubai-listed Marka Holding has added another franchise to its roster.
It signed a deal with the Paris-based clothing brand Carven, with plans to open seven stores by 2018, including in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Bahrain. The first outlet will open in the second phase of City Walk in Dubai this quarter.
Carven will make its debut in the UAE with its autumn/winter 2015 collection of men’s and women’s lines, said Henri Sebaoun, the chief executive of Carven.
Retail sales of apparel in the UAE reached US$13.5 billion last year and are expected to grow to $15.4bn next year, according to the research group Euromonitor International.
The apparel market in the country is dominated by the Landmark Group, which operates the Splash, Max and Babyshop brands, Sweden’s H&M and Spain’s Zara.
Fatemah Sherif, a research analyst with Euromonitor, said that the appetite for fashion brands in the UAE continues despite a slowdown in the economy as consumers in the UAE are savvy about fashion, and brand- conscious.
Last week, Marka added the French jeweller House of dinh van to its portfolio of fashion, sports and entertainment brands. Its other brands include the indoor children’s entertainment company Cheeky Monkeys, restaurant chain Reem Al Bawadi and sports memorabilia store Icons. It currently operates 37 shops.
Marka posted a smaller loss for the second quarter, which declined to Dh2.14 million compared with Dh8.3m in the first quarter. It expects to enter profitability next year.
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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