Giordano’s customer focused culture and excellent service standards were recognized by the Department of Economic Development this week. The Middle East’s leading casual retailer was named as the ‘Best Service Performance Brand’ in the Large Business category and won the ‘Best Service Performance’ award for its Wafi City outlet during the 2006 Dubai Service Excellence Performance awards. With a growing portfolio of over 140 stores in the Middle East, Giordano has continuously and consistently concentrated its efforts on enhancing service and building personal relationships with customers . “Giordano as a brand is extremely customer focused,” said Ishwar Chugani, Executive Director for Giordano, Middle East and Africa. “While we are a business that continues to develop, we strive to offer each and every customer the undivided attention they deserve.” Giordano supports DED’s efforts to highlight the importance of customer service in Dubai’s booming retail sector and was one of the first companies to join the Dubai Service Excellence Scheme. The brand has a unique relationship with the UAE due to the fact that Giordano Middle East was established in the UAE almost 15 years ago, in 1993, as a joint venture between Emirates Trading Agency and Giordano International Ltd. The winners were selected based on mystery shopper inputs and regular professional evaluation following strict criteria which retailers were required to adhere to.” We are proud to receive both awards. The recognition is a sincere tribute to the personal dedication and efforts of every member of the extended Giordano family”, said Chugani. “It is an honor to have our efforts recognized by the government of Dubai. Giordano embodies the contemporary lifestyle choices – simplicity in design and quality in substance. Its total commitment to superior service and outstanding quality and value has enabled the company to successfully execute on its multiple-market and multiple-brand strategy. ”, he concluded. The awards, held at the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry auditorium, were attended by more than 300 delegates and based on a high customer service standards and a code of business ethics. DED honored 22 outlets and four brands during the awards ceremony.

Giordano recently hosted a career discussion and presentation for 40 Emirati students in support of the Retail Maharat Program managed by Emirates National Development Programme (ENDP), a government organization that promotes the integration of UAE Nationals into the private sector, The one-day event was part of Retail Maharat, a nine week training programme organized by the ENDP to prepare students for jobs in the retail sector. Some of the 40 students will be joining Giordano, the Middle East’s leading casual wear retailer, upon completion of their training. “The UAE’s retail industry is seeing enormous growth, and so there is an increasing need for good people, especially Nationals,” said Ishwar Chugani, Executive Director for Giordano, Middle East and Africa. “In general, employers here need the local expertise that the UAE Nationals can provide. Emiratization, we believe, will play a key role in the success of the retail sector here and the economy as a whole.” As part of the event, trainees were taken to the Giordano office, where they met Chugani and Kashmira Tamhane, Giordano’s Head of Human Resources and Development. Chugani introduced the students to Giordano and its history before giving them an insider’s perspective of the retail industry in the region. Following a question and answer session, the students visited the Giordano store at the Mall of the Emirates. Said Chugani, “We were very impressed with the levels of enthusiasm and engagement shown by the participants. Giordano is committed to maintaining the highest levels of customer service, and so it’s encouraging for us to be able to meet young Nationals of this caliber. That, for us, is the true value of such a programme: it brings deserving candidates and potential employers together.”

Giordano International has launched its first store in Gujarat at the Iscon Mega Mall, Ahmedabad, India. The new 1,400 square feet store marks the retailer’s third outlet in India, and will carry the entire range of Giordano merchandise and accessories. Peter Lau, Chairman and Chief Executive of Giordano International, emphasized the importance of the Indian market and stated: “India is now the focus of every international retail chain because of its accelerating economic growth. After concentrating our initial operations in the South of India with the opening of our first 2 stores in Chennai, we are now ready to open stores all across India”. In fact, the company plans to open an additional four stores in the country before the end of the year, including its first high street flagship store in Mumbai. In addition, Giordano plans on launching stores in Delhi, Bangalore, and Hyderabad . Furthermore, Lau took the opportunity to reinforce one of the company’s main values, which is that of offering its customers highest quality products and highly distinguished services. “We are an entirely customer driven company with a very simple mission to make people feel good and look great. We also follow the latest in technology to manage our distribution system effectively and ensure prompt responses to customers, “concluded Lau. Launched in 1981, in Hong Kong, Giordano currently operates more than 1850 stores spread over 35 countries including China, Japan, Singapore, Korea, Taiwan, Australia, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Central Asia and North America. “Most Indian customers are aware of Giordano because of the company’s strong presence in the nearby GCC, Australian and Asian markets. Giordano’s success is driven by its core values of Quality, Knowledge, Innovation, Service and Simplicity and we will follow the same policies here to ensure consistency in quality and service, “said Ishwar Chugani, Director, Giordano Fashions India Pvt Ltd.

Giordano plans to expand its presence in Saudi Arabia, the rest of Middle East and elsewhere in the world this year. Giordano’s 60 current stores in Saudi Arabia constitute 30% of Saudi nationals in its workforce, “We hope to increase their strength with on-job and other in-house and external training programmes in the upcoming years,” says Ishwar Chugani, Executive Director for Giordano Middle East and Africa. Giordano Middle East operates more than 140 stores covering eight markets including the GCC countries, Jordan, Georgia, Russia, Bulgaria, Armenia, Algeria and Iran. Giordano International operates over 1,800 stores globally. Giordano opened an 110sqm(1180 sqft) store at Abraj Al Bait shopping centre in Makkah, which is said to be one of its most expensive showrooms, Abraj Al Bait complex consists of six residential towers, a five-star hotel, and a central podium housing convention and conference facilities. The complex when complete is expected to attract about 200,000 hotel and tower residents and day visitors to the shopping centre per day. “We have planned to open 10 stores in Saudi Arabia later this year with plans to have a store in every major mall,” says Chugani.