The variety store group has agreed a franchise deal with Middle Eastern business Al-Hokair, which will open the first standalone Chad Valley toy shops in the world in Saudi Arabia.
Woolworths has also signed a deal to launch Ladybird children’s clothing concessions and standalone stores in India. Local partner RPG Group will open 10 concessions in Spencer hypermarkets and two standalone stores. Six of the concessions will also sell Chad Valley products and all 12 stores will be trading by the end of this year. The concessions will be a minimum of 1,000 sq ft (95 sq m), while the standalone shops will be between 1,500 and 2,500 sq ft (140 and 230 sq m).
India and the Middle East are increasingly attractive to UK retailers, which have been expanding in both locations with local partners. Mothercare, Debenhams and Hamleys are among UK store groups in the process of opening there.
Simon Brown, Woolworths’ international sales and marketing manager for the two brands, said the deals represented “branded retail solutions” that would “build brand equity”. He added: “We’re very young in overseas markets, but the product proposition goes across cultures.”
Roy Palmer, chief executive of consultancy Pragma, believes Ladybird represents a particular opportunity for Woolworths, because of the brand’s “warm, historical associations”. But he warned that the Indian retail market is very competitive on prices.
He said: “Saudi Arabia may be more promising to start with because there’s a much larger spending population.”
Woolworths is engaged in initiatives to strengthen its business, after returning its core UK stores division to profit last year. Industry observers say that, if the retail recovery is sustained, the group may be broken up and sold.
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