The Triumph of Trafalgar- Kuwait.
For Amer Al Ansari and wife Christiane, Trafalgar goes beyond a business enterprise, and is the embodiment of a deep-rooted passion which reflects their commitment and dedication to the pursuit of excellence. Amer and Christiane are very selective when it comes to embracing a new brand which according to them must dovetail with their present business model. Discernment and futuristic vision have led them to choose Apple - one of the world's top brands - into their suite of successful product lines.
Talking to Arabian Watches and Jewellery Magazine the couple define what have taken Trafalgar as a luxury retailer in Kuwait and recently extended their marketing activities across the GCC, to a new height and talks at length about their e-commerce venture and partnership with Dr. Mohammad Marouf. Below is an excerpt from the interview that highlights the clarity of their business strategy and futuristic vision and their expansion plan.
1. Can you give us a brief background on Trafalgar?
Amer: Trafalgar story dates back forty six years when my parents commenced the modest business. My father was in the real estate business but my mother, being German, was a little edgy about realty and decided to venture into the watch and jewellery business. What initially was a hobby later turned out to be a significant business for the family. My father passed away in mid 80s and after university I went to Switzerland to attend a special course for entrants into the watch & jewellery business. Subsequently, I came to Kuwait and took over the business. That is when I met Christiane and from then our teamwork has gone from strength to strength.
2. You both are involved in Trafalgar, so how do you two run the company jointly?
Christiane: I believe we are a complementary team. We actually enjoy sharing the same office. I don’t interfere with what he is good at and he reciprocates in the same way, so we strike a good balance. My forte is at selecting styles, and knowing what the market needs and he values my judgment. In the beginning, we were into jewellery but I felt that fashion was a significant aspect to be considered and for the past 10 years we’ve been growing our fashion arm steadily. Two years ago, we got our license and are now manufacturing our own products like leather goods. We share our views and opinions honestly in business meetings and it helps a lot.
Amer: In a business such as ours the work doesn’t finish even at the end of the working day. It continues even after that and it’s really nice that we can discuss things outside the work time and outside our working environment. This is one certain plus point in a family run business. And with Dr. Mohammed Marouf recently joining Trafalgar as an equal partner, having him as an additional support with his vast knowledge and intuition in the corporate world provides the company with additional strength.
3. Would you like to share some of the tougher moments you have experienced?
Christiane: I would say the crisis of 2008 was quite a tough experience and a situation that we did manage well.
Amer: Before the financial crisis, things were so easy because you put up anything for sale and it will be sold. When the crisis hit the business world we had to take actions and make tough decisions that were not pleasant or easily acceptable. It could be about not opening a store that we have committed to because it was a matter of survival for company. The crisis taught us to remain focusednot just during bad times but also during good times.
4. What according to you are the reasons behind the success of your business philosophy?
Amer: As my mother was German, we got some basic things right such as being humble. Germans always keep their promises whether it’s payments to clients or salaries to staff. You believe in delivering things on time. I believe this is one of the reasons why we’re here today. I think it is very important being humble and not to feel you are better than the rest. But at the same time, it is important to remember the partners that have stayed with us, even during the challenging times. After the invasion of Kuwait in 1990/1991 when our business was completely ruined and the future prospect looked very bleak, partners remained committed to us. I will never forget the incredible support extended by the Scheufele family of Chopard in helping us restart our operation once again. Such trust is honestly hard to find, and is one of the reasons why I enjoy coming to work every day.
Christiane: We are honest, generous and good to the people around us. We are also punctual in our payments. I believe this is why we are what we are today.
5. Many people relate Trafalgar brand with Trafalgar Square; what’s the history behind the brand name and how did the name Alma come about?
Amer: We have had to explain it many times. In fact Trafalgar is of Arabic origin and signifies the name of a town off the south west coast of Spain. The word Taraf in Arabic means edge or an extremity. It’s funny because some of my friends call me and say they are not happy with the name Trafalgar and are going to find a French name for it. Similarly, we found Alma sounds like Almas which means diamonds in Arabic. Both are also historic names being scenes of battle in the 19th century.
6. How many brands are there in Trafalgar portfolio?
Amer: There are about 16 brands in all.
7. How do you decide whether a brand fits with Trafalgar’s portfolio or not. How do you go about this selection process?
Amer: Let us talk company-wise. I think we have to come back to what we do. We do luxury retail and nothing else. We do not have anything to fall back on in case we make many mistakes so I think the right start is where we have to be extra careful. Many brands do approach us with some fantastic people behind them but we turned them down if we feel they were not cut out for success in the region even though they have been successful outside. At the same time, we consider current trends as well as future forecasts and harmonize them to give shape to our marketing plan.
Christiane: It takes a lot of discussions every time. When we choose a brand, we put a lot of effort and big budgets behind it and this is why we try to be very selective. There is little room for error in our business. We like to represent our brands in a big way and this is reflected in how some of our brands are stronger in Kuwait than other markets.
8. Chopard and Patek Philippe are among the biggest brands within your portfolio and they are success stories. What plans do you have to promote other brands in your portfolio?
Amer: Patek Philippe is one of the biggest stores in the region. Chopard is the largest and we have two stores that are super large. With regard to other brands, we have plans but nothing has been signed yet. We are actually very conservative, so when we get the brand we give our full efforts but at the same time we’re also quite cautious. When we perceive good potential we will go for that brand. We always go the extra mile or do even more than what we are expected to do. 9. You are continuously adding on new brands. What about Apple premium reseller operation?
Amer: This one is altogether different – it's my baby. This is something that has been my passion from a young age and working with it is the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. We opened an Apple reseller store, and probably the largest in the Middle East. It has a great location. I must say that all that I thought about Apple came to be very true. Apple is truly an amazing company. What we gained from Apple was a great learning experience with exceptional people. They are just super incredible.
Christiane: It’s his passion to collect old Apple and other computers. That’s definitely his area of expertise.
10. Can you name one thing that you learned from Apple that made you say “Wow, I want to implement this in our company?”
Amer: With regard to their recruitment process, they look at things so differently. Again, the word that they use all the time is ‘passionate’. Want to know what I really like about Apple? They just leave you on your own. They choose us, expect us to perform and they don’t pick holes in our plans. When we wanted to put an ad for Apple, it was checked by them but otherwise what we do internally they trust us completely and this is something very good for business.
Passion as you said, is the key word for Apple and I see it also in the way you select brands. I want to talk a little bit about the fashion side. Let’s talk about you being a designer, so please elaborate.
Christiane: I would say most of the brands respect my opinion and take my advice. But later on I felt we can do more so this is why we went to having our own license which is the Charriol licence. I design them fully but still get approval from Mr. Charriol. In all other aspects, it’s more like guidance such as what the market needs. Jewellery, fashion and bags are all related to fashion.
11. So when you say fashion, do you mean leather goods, fashionable jewellery and watches, and not clothes?
Christiane: We did a lot of ready-to-wear so mostly we concentrate on accessories like leather goods because the trend is going in that direction. To be trendy doesn’t mean you have to wear the most expensive brand. We decided to put maximum focus on leather goods and this is where we’re doing well now. We’re doing e-commerce as well.
12. Please elaborate about your e-commerce platform. Is this something you are investing heavily in?
Amer: E-commerce has been in the back of our mind for quite some time. We decided to start with Aigner so we distributed it in the region through our e-commerce site and that was the first experience which we were trying to do on our own. In the beginning, there were no orders, then one or two every week and then every few days and then every other day and now orders come in every day. It is something where the growth potential is incredible. We still have other plans for Gait in Kuwait. Gait is our Apple reseller name. Soon we are launching a multi-brand concept called Fashion Fault.
OK, you first started your e-commerce site, it was slow but it picked up later. Please share some more insight.
Amer: Firstly, it was only in English. When we started the Arabic version things started moving forward faster. It shows that our clients are predominantly Arabs. There are many things that we learned from this experience.
13. Do you attribute success of online platform to social media, Google ads or something else? What did get you there?
Amer: This is something new with regard to e-commerce so I suppose the brand and the products have to be just right. We have a dedicated team just for the marketing of e-commerce. E-commerce, you see, is completely different from conventional business models.
14. What is your strategy for social media?
Amer: It’s interesting. It changes quickly, so you have to be on top all the time. It gives quick information so doesn’t stay longer in people’s mind like a traditional advertising but easily overwritten.
Christiane: Things have changed. I don’t see the effect of bloggers that much. It’s debatable whether it has a benefit or not but you have to do it.
Amer: You may call them bloggers or influencers, there are really respected ones that have a tangible effect, but there are others that are not so effective. We don’t have a ready-reckoner that tells us that this is the good one and that is one is not. We do a lot of work with bloggers and people of importance. Earlier, we’re trying to use international stars but now it seems that the trend is going local. Chopard’s Happy Hearts campaign is a great example of this.
15. You expanded operation in 2014 to Saudi Arabia followed by Bahrain and UAE. What is your strategy when it comes to expansion?
Amer: I can speak about the actual taste of customer divergence. With our partner Dr. Mohammad, we decided to expand and the growth curve is very good especially this year. In UAE, when everybody is complaining about a slow down we are quite happy. Bahrain has been a shining star of the region. It’s a small market but it’s a great market. We are investing quite a lot over there.
16. You have mentioned your partner Dr. Mohammad Marouf. Can you tell us more about him? What kind of partnership do you have?
Amer: Our relationship started in 2008. Dr. Mohammad is a great guy. He wanted to get into luxury retail so we tied up when we started with Patek Philippe, which is his passion. Our relationship has strengthened since, and the respect we have for each other has been the key to the success that we see right now. Dr. Mohammad came as a blessing that we can rely on for guidance and many other things. He sees things that I don’t. He’s very correct. His involvement was small in our business but almost a year ago he became a full-fledged partner in Trafalgar. Now, we’re equal partners across the board throughout the region. We’re looking forward to have some other members of his family to join us soon.
17. What is your analysis of the luxury market in Kuwait and the GCC?
Amer: With oil price coming down, the impact on the region is evident. On top of it is the VAT (value-added tax) that has been implemented in some GCC countries. But our sales continue to grow well even outside Kuwait. Kuwait still has not implemented VAT but as and when they do we have to prepare ourselves based on the lessons that we have learned. In Dubai, Abu Dhabi or the Kingdom there are some sort of shifts in general, but they are not negative. In Kuwait, we have the biggest operations. Shoppers in Kuwait are more careful these days in what they choose. It’s not easy-going like before.
18. You have dedicated logistics to operate your largest after-sales service centre. What is the operation going on there?
Amer: Higher sales and more brands automatically push you into having a better service centre and to hire more staff. We purchased a large plot in Kuwait where we have our main warehouse and above that we have the largest after-sale service center for watches and jewellery. We hired high profile specialists, and acquired advanced facilities. We also service many brands that we don’t represent. Now when we started working with Apple it’s a different story altogether where we have to develop and build a new team for that alone. That’s the direction people are looking at with regard to service. We’re going in the right direction for sure.
19. What according to you is different and unique at Trafalgar from any other company in Kuwait?
Amer: The unique spirit of cooperation. We are a passionate team and every individual is very passionate about his or her work. I’m considered an early riser. And when I come to work say at 7:45 am, believe me when I say that many have already beat me to their desks! And days when I need to stay in the office until the evening, it humbles me to see many colleagues still working away. It’s simple; without such dedicated colleagues, Trafalgar would not be the company it is today.
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