Cooperation in the Arab market

The company Karlie Heimtierbedarf has been established in the German pet industry for many years as a large and successful market participant. In addition to its excellent contacts in Germany, the company has made many international contacts in the past 25 years and business relations now exist with the whole world. For years its core markets have been Europe and the USA. But Karlie’s founder and managing director Gerd Blaschke and his team have also acquired increasingly promising contacts in Asia.
One year ago Karlie succeeded in breaking into the Arab market for the first time. The Petland company opened a 550 m² shop in Dubai catering for the needs of pets, with a basic stock consisting entirely of Karlie products.
Product training for the employees of Petland in Karlie’s headquarter.
The basis for the amicable cooperation was established at Zoomark 2001. The managing directors of the shop, who got their inspiration from the Karlie exhibition booth, had an in-depth discussion with Gerd Blaschke and convinced him that they were the ideal partners to open a shop in Dubai. Dates for further negotiations were agreed upon in the subsequent months.
After intensive consultation in Dubai and in Bad Wünnenberg-Haaren, where Karlie has its office, the Dubai experiment commenced in July 2001. Armed with products and backed by a committed support team, Gerd Blaschke flew to the Middle East to establish the shop. Within ten days in the hot desert climate, the Karlie team had conjured up in Petland’s empty premises a fully equipped shop that had everything that one can expect a modern pet shop to offer. After much endeavour, the big opening took place according to plan on 1st August 2001.
Founder Gerd Blaschke inside the Petland store.
The response was fantastic. For the first time, local customers were able to focus on a wide range of pet products. The astonishment at the many different, high-quality and sometimes also amusing products from Germany was great. Turnover in the first few days showed that the commitment to this experiment had been worthwhile for both sides. The owners of the shop were invited to Karlie’s house fair marking 25 years to celebrate their success and enjoyed this event very much. In-depth Karlie product training in Bad Wünnenberg-Haaren for the employees of the different departments rounded off the commercial partnership with the businessmen from Dubai. 
Karlie has now become established in the United Arab Emirates in just one year. Its partner is…