Pragma Lifestyle, part of Lebanon-based Pragma Group, says it’s looking beyond the UK and Europe for the roll-out of its Cavalli Club, Restaurant and Lounge and Cavalli Caffe brands, launched in collaboration with Italian fashion designer Roberto Cavalli.
“Our plan is to take the club to the BRIC nations — Brazil, Russia, India and China — and also America, mainly North America,” Pragma Lifestyle head of strategy and investment Ahmad Chehouri told M&C Report.
“The first Cavalli Caffé is in Beirut and we’re expanding the brand internationally,” he added. Potential destinations for the Cavalli Caffe franchise have been outlined as Kuwait, the UAE, Qatar, Turkey, Egypt and Bahrain, with Asia also being a central focus.
However, Chehouri said the group would not be considering expansion into Europe for “obvious economic reasons”.
“Emerging markets are performing much better and the [customer] expenditure is much better —the high-net worth individuals are there. We have a complete analysis on where we should expand from an emerging markets point of view and these markets are growing much faster,” he explained.
The exclusive Cavalli Club, Restaurant and Lounge in Dubai targets high-spending customers and made international headlines last year after a photograph of a customer’s £68,813 bar tab made its way onto Twitter.
Pragma Lifestyle has international franchising rights for a number of brands including Cirque Du Soir. The group opened Cirque Du Soir Dubai, the first venue outside of London, in 2012 with plans to open other sites in Shanghai, Beirut, Istanbul and Miami.
