Turkish brand grows full speed in Istanbul
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Daily News with wires
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Şubat 02, 2009 00:00
ISTANBUL - Vakko, a leader in Turkish fashion, is opening a flagship store that brings all of its fashion brands under one roof. The new store is located in Galleria, Turkey’s first shopping mall, and is a $600,000 investment for Vakko.
A leading figure in Turkish fashion, Vakko, has opened a new shop in Turkey's first shopping mall, Galleria, on a $600,000 investment.
The store will bring together all its sub brands such as Vakko Women, Vakko Men,Vakko Couture, Vakko Shoes and Bags. There are now also Vakkoroma, V2K and Vakko Chocolate in the huge shop.
The glamorous shop was designed by the Autoban Architecture Company and the opening was hosted by the chairman of Vakko, Cem Hakko, and the chairman of the DATİ Investment Company, Şadan Kalkavan.
Hakko said Vakko will survive the financial crises because they see it as something temporary. "We don't want to experience bad days and we aim to continue growing. When Vakko was established, its aim was to be a world famous brand," he said.
The crisis might impact the first few months of this year but everything will turn back to normal after the sixth month, Hakko said. He expects 2010 to be a good year. "The brand is as important to us as it was in its first days. We also don't want to worry about the economic crisis so as to not give an uncomfortable feeling to our customers."
When asked about the textile sector during the opening ceremony of the new store, Hakko said, "We should all work together and instead of using the word 'crisis' we should be standing up hand-in-hand to overcome the bad times and Turkey would be saved."
Vakko expects a rise in its revenue this year though Hakko said 2007 revenue was the same as in 2008.
Vitali struggled a lot for the Beyoğlu shop
"We expect 10 percent growth this year without the profit included from the new shops," Hakko said. "Our dreams are coming true. We opened a new factory 20 days ago, the company's new building is opening its doors soon and we already opened our new shop that for the first time brings together all our brands under one roof."
Hakko said they aim to open new shops in the first half of this year and the plan is to open shops where the customer profile shows that people are spending their free time.
After big hopes and through struggles by Vitali Hakko, the founder of the brand Vakko, the brand opened a 5,000-square-meter shop in Beyoğlu in 1962. At the time, it was the largest shop ever in Istanbul and a symbol of modernism.
Yet, as time passed, Beyoğlu slowly turned into a center for cheap shops that sell mass production and cheap quality goods and Vakko had to close its five-story building in Beyoğlu,
Vitali Hakko died at the age of 94. He began working when he was only 14 as an apprentice in Mahmutpaşa disctrict and had founded a hat shop called 'şen şapka’ before launching Vakko.
Cem Hakko said the brand could not stay in Bayoğlu because customers were not coming to the shop. "As we all know, Vitali Hakko dedicated his life to the Vakko brand and Turkey's biggest shop in Beyoğlu," said Hakko, the son of the founder. Just like all brands, Vakko followed a policy of opening shops where customers prefer to go such as Bağdat Street, the long shopping street on the Asian side of Istanbul, and shopping malls such as İstinye Park and Kanyon.
Although lately the brand has focused on shops in shopping malls, Hakko said the company still values stores that are outdoors and on the streets. Giving examples of those in Nişantaşõ and Suadiye districts, known as the fancy shopping neighborhoods of Istanbul, Hakko said, "We also make evaluations on the rents that are paid for Vakko shops." He also admitted that the brand has made poor decisions about location from time to time and had to close some of them because of the high rent.
Recently the brand closed four of its shops that were newly opened in Nişantaşõ. It had eight shops present in the shopping district of Istanbul yet with last minute decisions it closed four of them and allocated its products to the ones that are still open.
More employees in store
Foreign brands investing in Turkey is an advantage for Vakko, according to Hakko. He said people used to think Vakko was too expensive, but with the foreign brands opening stores in Turkey, that idea changed.
The brand has a wholesale establishment abroad, which follows a different policy compared to domestic growth. They receive partnership offers from abroad, but Hakko thinks if a brand aims to expand abroad with a partner, then it has to know that partner very well.
With the shop that opened its doors Friday, Vakko is targeting an increase in profit this year. With new investments, the world-renowned brand aims to increase its number of employees as well.
The store will bring together all its sub brands such as Vakko Women, Vakko Men,Vakko Couture, Vakko Shoes and Bags. There are now also Vakkoroma, V2K and Vakko Chocolate in the huge shop.
The glamorous shop was designed by the Autoban Architecture Company and the opening was hosted by the chairman of Vakko, Cem Hakko, and the chairman of the DATİ Investment Company, Şadan Kalkavan.
Hakko said Vakko will survive the financial crises because they see it as something temporary. "We don't want to experience bad days and we aim to continue growing. When Vakko was established, its aim was to be a world famous brand," he said.
The crisis might impact the first few months of this year but everything will turn back to normal after the sixth month, Hakko said. He expects 2010 to be a good year. "The brand is as important to us as it was in its first days. We also don't want to worry about the economic crisis so as to not give an uncomfortable feeling to our customers."
When asked about the textile sector during the opening ceremony of the new store, Hakko said, "We should all work together and instead of using the word 'crisis' we should be standing up hand-in-hand to overcome the bad times and Turkey would be saved."
Vakko expects a rise in its revenue this year though Hakko said 2007 revenue was the same as in 2008.
Vitali struggled a lot for the Beyoğlu shop
"We expect 10 percent growth this year without the profit included from the new shops," Hakko said. "Our dreams are coming true. We opened a new factory 20 days ago, the company's new building is opening its doors soon and we already opened our new shop that for the first time brings together all our brands under one roof."
Hakko said they aim to open new shops in the first half of this year and the plan is to open shops where the customer profile shows that people are spending their free time.
After big hopes and through struggles by Vitali Hakko, the founder of the brand Vakko, the brand opened a 5,000-square-meter shop in Beyoğlu in 1962. At the time, it was the largest shop ever in Istanbul and a symbol of modernism.
Yet, as time passed, Beyoğlu slowly turned into a center for cheap shops that sell mass production and cheap quality goods and Vakko had to close its five-story building in Beyoğlu,
Vitali Hakko died at the age of 94. He began working when he was only 14 as an apprentice in Mahmutpaşa disctrict and had founded a hat shop called 'şen şapka’ before launching Vakko.
Cem Hakko said the brand could not stay in Bayoğlu because customers were not coming to the shop. "As we all know, Vitali Hakko dedicated his life to the Vakko brand and Turkey's biggest shop in Beyoğlu," said Hakko, the son of the founder. Just like all brands, Vakko followed a policy of opening shops where customers prefer to go such as Bağdat Street, the long shopping street on the Asian side of Istanbul, and shopping malls such as İstinye Park and Kanyon.
Although lately the brand has focused on shops in shopping malls, Hakko said the company still values stores that are outdoors and on the streets. Giving examples of those in Nişantaşõ and Suadiye districts, known as the fancy shopping neighborhoods of Istanbul, Hakko said, "We also make evaluations on the rents that are paid for Vakko shops." He also admitted that the brand has made poor decisions about location from time to time and had to close some of them because of the high rent.
Recently the brand closed four of its shops that were newly opened in Nişantaşõ. It had eight shops present in the shopping district of Istanbul yet with last minute decisions it closed four of them and allocated its products to the ones that are still open.
More employees in store
Foreign brands investing in Turkey is an advantage for Vakko, according to Hakko. He said people used to think Vakko was too expensive, but with the foreign brands opening stores in Turkey, that idea changed.
The brand has a wholesale establishment abroad, which follows a different policy compared to domestic growth. They receive partnership offers from abroad, but Hakko thinks if a brand aims to expand abroad with a partner, then it has to know that partner very well.
With the shop that opened its doors Friday, Vakko is targeting an increase in profit this year. With new investments, the world-renowned brand aims to increase its number of employees as well.