Business group eyes international expansion and listing RIYADH: Marking the beginning of a new chapter in its growth story, Magrabi Retail Group, the Middle East’s leading eyewear retailer, announced its newly formed leadership structure and unveiled its latest mission statement in an exclusive interview with Arab News. While Amin Magrabi, formerly CEO, is stepping up as the chairman to lead the business forward and oversee strategic expansion goals in the region and beyond, Yasser Taher, formerly COO, is moving up to become the CEO as part of a gender-balanced C-suite. “I am very excited by what the future holds as we see us expanding internationally and also listing the organization in the public markets,” Amin Magrabi told Arab News. He added: “We will also announce a new progressive board of directors in a couple of months.” As the newly appointed CEO, Taher told Arab News that he is proud to become the first non-family member to hold this position in the history of the group. “We are transforming this family business to become a world-class business group. And I’m very excited about this transformation mission,” he said. Last year, Magrabi achieved several milestones including the founding of the Lens Innovation Center based in Dubai, the first fully automated production installation in the region which aims to produce 2 million lenses a year by 2025. The company’s growing portfolio includes Magrabi, the biggest luxury eyewear chain in the region, as well as the lifestyle chain Doctor M, multiple owned brands, and a robust wholesale and distribution arm. Its retail network consists of 142-plus outlets and a growing omnichannel presence. Magrabi seems all set to move forward now, with a strategic shift that is aligned with the group’s accelerated gender equity commitments. With the new leadership structure firmly in place, Magrabi went on to unveil its new mission exclusively to Arab News. “We are delighted to announce the latest update, our new mission: Re-envisioning the world of eyewear to empower the lifestyles of millions.” “Re-envisioning entails transformation,” he explained. “It means going beyond the traditional approach, trying to unleash this industry from a very traditional setup to the way we think about it. It entails a new vision of how we look into this. This is the ‘how’ in the mission statement, the ‘what’ is the world of eyewear.” Magrabi added: “We look at how we can introduce new brands, new banners, new products, and services and create differentiated store concepts, online and offline proposition. This is how we look at the world of eyewear.” “The ‘why’ is to empower lifestyles,” Taher explained. “So what does this mean? We don’t want to only sell products. In reality, we want to empower our customers. We look at customer engagement with a very different approach.” This is an industry where consumers are not very well informed about their options and how to make the right selection, he said. “Hence, we wanted to empower consumers; we want to educate them. We want to simplify this industry for them to make sure that they are capable to make their own decisions and understand their options,” Taher went on to say. The last piece of the mission, according to him, is the millions. “The millions is the ‘who,’” Taher said. “It not only implies the international expansion across different markets in different segments but it also implies corporate social responsibility and social impact programs.” Summing it up Magrabi said that the company would like to drive home the message that Magrabi Retail Group is not a typical regional Middle Eastern company nor is it a typical family business. “It’s a very progressive business that wants a place for itself on a global platform and is not just about finances and numbers,” he concluded. “It’s about creating something truly differentiated; that is there to change an industry. And this executive transition is just part of this progressiveness as this company matures and moves from family hands to professional leadership hands.”