Mothers Work Announces International Expansion with Franchise Agreement for Middle East
13 Outubro 2008 - 5:09PM
PR Newswire (US)
PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Mothers Work, Inc.
(NASDAQ:MWRK), the world's leading maternity apparel retailer,
today announced its planned expansion into six key markets in the
Middle East with its first international franchise agreement with
Multi Trend, a member of the Al-Homaizi Group, to introduce its
Destination Maternity(R), Motherhood Maternity(R), A Pea in the
Pod(R), and Edamame The Maternity Spa(R) brands into the Middle
East. The first Mothers Work branded retail locations in the Middle
East are expected to open during 2009. Under the multi-year
franchise agreement, Mothers Work has granted to Multi Trend and
its local subsidiaries the exclusive rights to operate branded
retail locations and market merchandise under the Company's
Destination Maternity(R), Motherhood Maternity(R), A Pea in the
Pod(R), and Edamame The Maternity Spa(R) brands in six key markets
in the Middle East: the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait,
Qatar, Bahrain and Oman. Multi Trend will exclusively purchase
merchandise from Mothers Work or suppliers designated by Mothers
Work. Additional terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Ed
Krell, Chief Executive Officer of Mothers Work, commented, "We are
very excited to announce this important first step in the
international expansion of our business and our brands beyond the
United States and Canada. Our new relationship with Multi Trend
provides us with a great opportunity to introduce our Destination
Maternity, Motherhood Maternity, A Pea in the Pod, and Edamame
brands to a population of approximately 30 million who reside in
these six key markets in the Middle East. The Middle East
represents a natural market for us to introduce our brands, since
it has some of the highest birth rates, a strong growing economy
and a population of new moms-to-be who love to shop and have an
ever increasing need for high-quality, fashionable maternity
apparel and services. In particular, we believe our Destination
Maternity superstores, with their unparalleled breadth of
assortment and unique and engaging shopping experience, will be a
'must visit' shopping destination for the expecting Middle Eastern
woman, just like they have become for the expecting U.S. woman.
With the strength of our brands and our merchandise, combined with
the deep retail experience and local knowledge of Multi Trend, we
believe that this business will become the leading maternity
apparel retailer in the Middle East, just as we are the leading
maternity apparel retailer in the United States." Saleh Yacoub
Al-Homaizi, Chairman of Multi Trend, commented, "We are very
pleased to introduce the industry-leading Mothers Work maternity
brands into these key Middle East markets, which we see as a
continuation of the rich tradition of the Al-Homaizi Group in
bringing unique products to discerning, fashion-conscious and
quality-conscious consumers. During the past one and a half
decades, the Al-Homaizi Group has successfully introduced
international brands over a range of home, food and apparel product
categories, including IKEA, Pizza Hut, Burger King, Appleby's,
Custo Barcelona, Cath Kidston, Joe Bloggs, Go Sport, and Courir, in
addition to developing local brands in the Middle East. We are
confident that the Mothers Work range of maternity apparel
merchandise, brands and store concepts will address a huge gap in
this segment in the region. As with all our retail businesses,
customer satisfaction and total customer experience are of prime
importance to our over 5,000 dedicated staff. Mothers Work and
Al-Homaizi Group will work closely together to select a product
range that will meet the needs and style of moms-to-be in the
Middle East taking into account cultural and fashion sensitivities.
We expect that the Mothers Work store concepts, including
Destination Maternity and A Pea in the Pod, will be the leading
shopping destination and experience for maternity apparel in the
region." About Multi Trend and the Al Homaizi Group Multi Trend, a
member of the Al Homaizi Group, is a franchisee in the Middle East
for numerous leading lifestyle brands including Custo Barcelona, a
Spanish brand of fashion clothing and accessories; Joe Bloggs, a
British brand for street-wear clothes; Go Sport, a French sporting
goods retailer; and Cath Kidston, a British brand for home
accessories. In addition, with operations in the Middle East,
Egypt, and the United Kingdom, the Al Homaizi Group is a
diversified entity with business interests in retail enterprises
including franchisee operations across the following sectors:
casual and fine dining (including Burger King, Pizza Hut and
Applebee's franchises), food and beverages (including Al Rifai,
Scoop a Cone and Boost Juice franchises), and home and office
furnishings (through an IKEA franchise). About Mothers Work, Inc.
Mothers Work is the world's largest designer and retailer of
maternity apparel, using its custom TrendTrack(TM) merchandise
analysis and planning system as well as its quick response
replenishment process to "give the customer what she wants, when
she wants it." As of September 30, 2008, Mothers Work operates
1,032 maternity locations, including 754 stores, predominantly
under the tradenames Motherhood Maternity(R), A Pea in the Pod(R),
Mimi Maternity(R), and Destination Maternity(R), and sells on the
web through its DestinationMaternity.com and brand-specific
websites. In addition, Mothers Work distributes its Oh Baby by
Motherhood(TM) collection through a licensed arrangement at
Kohl's(R) stores throughout the United States and on Kohls.com.
Mothers Work ("the Company") cautions that any forward-looking
statements (as such term is defined in the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995) contained in this press release or
made from time to time by management of the Company, including
those regarding international expansion, results of operations,
financial condition, and various business initiatives, involve
risks and uncertainties, and are subject to change based on various
important factors. The following factors, among others, in some
cases have affected and in the future could affect the Company's
financial performance and actual results and could cause actual
results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any
such forward-looking statements: our ability to successfully manage
our various business initiatives including our international
franchising initiatives, our ability to successfully manage and
retain our leased department and licensed relationships and
marketing partnerships, future sales trends in our existing store
base, unusual weather patterns, changes in consumer preferences and
spending patterns, demographics and other macroeconomic factors
that may impact the level of spending for maternity apparel,
overall economic conditions and other factors affecting consumer
confidence, the impact of competition and fluctuations in the
price, availability and quality of raw materials and contracted
products, availability of suitable store locations, continued
availability of capital and financing, ability to hire and develop
senior management and sales associates, ability to develop and
source merchandise, ability to receive production from foreign
sources on a timely basis, potential stock repurchases, potential
debt prepayments, changes in market interest rates, war or acts of
terrorism and other factors set forth in the Company's periodic
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or in
materials incorporated therein by reference. Mothers Work press
releases available through Company News On-Call at
http://www.prnewswire.com/gh/cnoc/comp/581877.html. DATASOURCE:
Mothers Work, Inc. CONTACT: Judd P. Tirnauer, Senior Vice President
& Chief Financial Officer of Mothers Work, Inc.,
+1-215-873-2278 Web site: http://www.motherswork.com/
http://www.destinationmaternity.com/
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