Beyond Muscat
The Landmark Group is one of the largest retailers in the Middle East. Akshay Bhatnagar and Sushmita Sarkhel, in conversation with Clive Freeman, the new GM of Landmark Group, Oman

What was the objective behind your move to Oman?
It was mostly a business requirement. The Landmark Group regularly reviews its operations in various countries and it is customary to transfer personnel from one territory to another. Saibal Basu has been here as the GM for the last three years and has done a remarkable job. He is now moving on to head operations in Kuwait and I was asked if I’d like to move to Oman, to which I readily agreed.

What are your first impressions about Oman?
I’m delighted to be here. It’s very different than anything you can find anywhere else. The diversity of scenery and landscape is incredible. The city of Muscat is extremely modern but at the same time it has still managed to retain its cultural heritage and it’s all extremely impressive.

What are the expectations of the group from you?
My focus would be retail operations – to review where we are now, to work with the team and inject some fresh ideas into the business, listen to people who’ve been with Landmark for a long time, while trying to bring in positive changes wherever required. The Landmark Group and its Chairman Micky Jagtiani have always believed that the customer comes first and hence all that we do is based around this philosophy. Value for money merchandise at a world-class retail environment is our single minded objective.

Do you feel there are any gaps on the customer service front?
I believe that we’re mainly a customer service focused business but I know there’s always place for improvement in any business as customer expectations are always on the rise. We don’t believe that we have achieved all the levels that we aim to. Today the retail industry in very dynamic and we have to keep moving forward with the changing times. Customer service has become increasingly important for any business over the last 10 years and we at the Landmark Group constantly innovate and upgrade ourselves to satisfy the needs of the end customer.

In what ways would you like to improve customer service?
I believe it’s important that everyone in our business delivers on customer service. The only way we can do that is to make sure that we have a very strong foundation in our training. The basic is to go through core principles with every member of our team. We have to make sure that they are understood, reviewed, acted upon and delivered. The way to monitor our progress is through feedback from the customer. Based on that we make amendments where necessary and make things right.

We will be introducing systems to deliver the best service in our stores. After sales and intensive staff training is high on our agenda to ensure the best follow up for customers. For example, at Home Centre we will be following up each delivery by contacting the householder, to ensure they are happy with the product and will request them for feedback on the delivery team who attended. Additionally we will have a team of technicians who will visit the customer’s house two weeks after delivery, to make additional adjustments to the furniture if required.

Give us a brief overview of the current state of operations in Oman?
Currently we have Centrepoint, a destination bringing together the Group’s core retail brands under one roof: Shoe Mart, Babyshop, Lifestyle and Splash. Our business here is made up of five Centrepoint stores, three Home Centers, one E Max and three Max stores. We also have franchise brand stores, Bata and Ecco in Muscat City Centre and Dumond and Pablosky in QCC. The Max store in Sohar has just opened with good initial sales. In Salalah, we have Centrepoint and Max. Other than Sohar and Salalah, we are also looking at expanding our business into areas outside the main cities e.g. Barka and Nizwa. Our total retail space is currently just over 500,000 sq. ft. This will increase over the next few years.

Training and recruiting nationals is a key focus area for us. The government has always supported us since our inception here and we are very thankful. As an organisation we are committed to social initiatives and cease every opportunity to give back to society.

How is each retail brand faring?
We have a diverse range of retail goods from high fashion, baby products, footwear, furniture and electronics. The region and indeed the whole world is facing exceptional challenges arising from the global liquidity crisis. Thriving in the face of challenge is key to retail and we are trying to do just that. Countries have reacted differently to the economic crisis. But one thing is common – consumers have become more cautious. We will continue with our core principals of the widest range of goods under one roof at the most competitive prices. Our wide range of merchandise and multi-brand approach helps us stay in healthy competition. We carry out continual market research on our pricing and we make sure that we retain our position in the marketplace.

What has the growth been like for each segment?
Electronics and furniture are segments which are challenging for any retailer and we’ve set our plans to this accord for the current year. The global meltdown has indeed been a serious issue and we hope in the next few months, there will be consumer confidence returning to the market. With our main focus on value-for-money merchandise we hope to rise above the crisis.

Have you looked at changing your vendor base or renegotiated contracts with existing vendors?
Landmark works on a long term strategy and that’s how the business has grown today from one store in 1973 to a turnover of $3.5 billion today. Our supplier base and negotiations of our contracts are done on a continual basis. As a company we have extremely skilled buyers, planners and merchandisers who are always looking to expand and improve our vendor base. We look at what the market is offering and listen to the needs of the customer and then address that need.

Tell us about the new logistics warehouse that you’re planning to set up.

Constant innovation and upgrading is the key to the retail industry. We have to , adapt and move forward with today’s dynamic market requirements. Backend operations is the backbone of retail and ensuring steady progress in the field of supply chain management is essential for a successful retail business. We felt it was time to dedicate a standalone state-of-the-art warehouse facility, whereby we can bring in the latest innovations under one roof. For our new warehouse, we are looking at a 15,000 sq. m size facility. Accessibility to the warehouse is important to the business we are in and hence we are going to look at an area close to Muscat.

We are also looking at a round-the-clock warehouse management operation to increase productivity and ensure smooth running of the business and hope to achieve this in the next 24 months. We are not going to compromise on our requirements, we know what we need to achieve and we are going to go ahead and deliver!
 

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