Number of Turkish brands to reach around 5,000 shops abroad

ISTANBUL

Turkish brands, which have 4,396 shops in 125 countries, continue to open an average of two new shops abroad daily, the head of the United Brands Association (BMD) has said.

“I believe they will continue to open shops rapidly and reach around 5,000 shops abroad in the second half of 2019,” Sinan Öncel told Anadolu Agency.

He added that Turkish brands will double the number of their shops abroad in three years.

Russia is the main destination for Turkish brands with 636 shops, and it is followed by Kazakhstan with 320 shops and Saudi Arabia with 293 shops, he stressed.

Romania, Iraq, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Iran, Morocco and Turkish Cyprus are other top destinations for Turkish brands, he noted.

Because of high costs and saturation in the domestic market, companies have increasingly turned to foreign markets in the past year, Öncel said.

The number of visits to shopping centers in Turkey declined by 5.5 percent in June this year compared to the same month of 2018, showed a June survey carried out by the Council of Shopping Centers (AYD) and Akademetre Research.

In the second quarter of the year, the number of visits exhibited a 3.6 percent drop on an annual basis.

The shopping centers’ turnover index rose 19.2 percent in the month from a year ago.

There are more than 430 shopping centers with a total leasable area of 13 million square meters in 65 of Turkey’s 81 provinces.

Eight or 10 more shopping centers are expected to open this year and the leasable area is forecast to 13.5 million square meters.

“BMD member brands had a total of 2,500 shops abroad in 2016. In the following year opened 650 stores and added another 850 stores to their network in foreign markets in 2018. Initially we made a rather cautious projection for this year due to uncertainties in global trade, forecasting that
Turkish companies would open at least 500 new stores,” he added.

However, according to Öncel, companies’ performances have exceeded expectations in the first half of the year. “Companies have opened on average two shops a day. I believe companies will maintain this momentum in the second half of the year to have an around 5,000 shops at the end of the year.”

The Turkish government’s program, named Turquality, supports firms, which aim to become international brands, with cost incentives for branding, education, advertising, and consultancy.