Riyadh, KSA: L’azurde Company for Jewellery (“L’azurde” or “the Company”), the largest gold and jewelry designer, manufacturer, distributor and retailer in the Middle East, today announced the signing of an exclusive operating agreement with Saudi French Duty Free Operations and Management, a division of Lagardère Travel Retail. The agreement sees L’azurde become the exclusive supplier of gold and jewellery in the international terminals of Saudi Arabia airports: King Khalid International Airport, King Abdulaziz International Airport, and King Fahd International Airport.
David Bisset, Chief Executive Office of Lagardère Travel Retail in Saudi Arabia, and Selim Chidiac, Chief Executive Officer of L’azurde Company for Jewelry, signed the agreement at L’azurde’s headquarters in KSA, Riyadh.
Under this agreement, L’azurde will become the exclusive supplier of jewellery and gold at the international showrooms in Riyadh, Jeddah, and Damam, providing new revenue streams to the company and diversifying its revenues by expanding its retail operations, and targeting a new segment of customers.
Commenting on the agreement, Selim Chidiac said: “We are proud to be working with Lagardère Travel Retail, a pioneering and leading travel retail player with global reach. With retail sales expected to start by Q3 2017 at Saudi airports, our agreement with Lagardère Travel Retail is anticipated to increase L’azurde’s annual revenues by 10%.”
“As we continue to expand our travel retail business in the Middle East, we are delighted to partner with L’azurde, their reputation as a leading manufacturer and retailer of gold and jewlery products makes them the perfect fit for our expanding business.” said David Bisset.
The total number of passengers passing through Saudi airports is growing. On April 25, 2016, Saudi Arabia announced Vision 2030, an ambitious economic plan, which seeks to diversify the Kingdom’s sources of income through a number of pillars, including: increasing the number of pilgrims and Umrah, strengthening the position of the Kingdom as an ideal tourist destination, and leveraging its geographical position in increasing the flow of international trade between Asia, Europe and Africa and maximizing its economic growth.
“The 2030 Vision will enhance the Kingdom’s global economic standing, create business opportunities as the Kingdom leverages its geographic location, as well as diversify Saudi Arabia’s sources of income, and support airport traffic. This will further enhance the importance of Saudi airports, and provide great opportunities for us,” said Chidiac.
About L’azurde:
Since it was founded in 1980, L’azurde has excelled at the art of jewelry design. Today, it is the largest gold and jewelry designer, manufacturer, distributor and retailer in the MENA region, and the fourth largest gold manufacturer in the world, selling over one million pieces of jewelry per annum.
L’azurde has over 2,000 employees and produces more than 5,000 different jewelry models every year in 21-karat,18-karat, 14-Karat gold and diamond jewelry. The jewelry pieces are manufactured at the company’s factories in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, using advanced high-technology equipment, and distributed to more than 2,000 retailers across the GCC and MENA region, as well as being exported to more than 15 countries outside the region. L’azurde also has its own network of 20 mono brand retail shops at top malls in KSA, Egypt and the UAE, where it is focused on the sale of diamond jewelry.
In line with it’s strategy of becoming a ‘house of brands’, L’azurde launched in 2016 its own value diamond brand, Kenaz Jewlery to attract a new consumer segment. L’azurde also acquired the franchise for Amazing Jewelry, a silver jewelry fashion brand from Copenhagen, within 9 countries and for 25 years.
L’azurde’s fusion of traditional craftsmanship, top design and the use of precision technologies has been a key driver to its international expansion and evolution, and the Company has won many awards for its intricate designs over the years.
