Dubai’s Emaar Malls appoints new chairman for Namshi after CEO departure

Dubai’s Emaar has appointed its chief strategy officer Hadi Badri as the chairman of online fashion retailer Namshi, it announced on Monday.

Namshi was fully acquired by majority shareholder Dubai-listed Emaar Malls in February.

Read more: Dubai’s Emaar Malls fully acquires online fashion retailer Namshi

Following the deal, Namshi CEO Hosam Arab – one of the company’s co-founders – revealed to his team that he will be leaving the retailer. He did not share the reason for his departure, but stressed that the “partnership with Emaar will undoubtedly bring great value to the business in terms of new avenues for growth and personal development”.

No replacement has been announced so far.

Emaar Malls said it will be establishing a new board of directors for Namshi, consisting of “global digital and e-commerce industry experts”, to drive its growth strategy.

Hadi Badri said: “Going forward, Namshi has tremendous growth potential, and now that it is fully owned by Emaar Malls, there are significant opportunities to accelerate the full potential of Namshi, for the benefit of its customers in the region and beyond.”

Namshi – founded in 2011 – has an active customer base of 1.2 million and recorded sales Dhs849m ($231.3m) across the UAE and Saudi Arabia in 2018, an increase of 16 per cent compared to the previous year.

It features 700 brands includes global names, exclusive in-house labels, sports collaborations, beauty, activewear and kidswear.

Also read: Alabbar’s Noon hires former Namshi managing director as CEO