Once treated as outcast, how UAE’s Danube Home took pole position

UAE-based Danube Home, now a leading home furnishing retail brand in the region, once struggled to find space at shopping malls, revealed Danube Group managing director Adel Sajan.

However, the youngster took up the challenge and carved out his own path to succeed.

“Danube Home was handed over to me in 2012. It was back then called Danube Buildmart. It took me two years to reinvent and ensure Danube Home was set in the right direction. Those two years were our transformative journey. We shut down loss making stores. We converted our concept from Buildmart to Danube Home where we defined ourselves as a 60,000-sq ft store,” Sajan told Khaleej Times during the Danube Contractors Conclave held in Abu Dhabi.

Sajan recalled that it was never an easy ride to establish the brand in the market.

“It was a big struggle because the shopping malls are controlled by the mafia, because some 7 to 8 groups control 80 per cent of the shops you see. What happens when you come in as a building material company (Danube Group), and you want to try something new, it is very challenging. Either you are given a very expensive rent, or you are given a corner location. And especially when you are opening such a big size store, neither of them works. So, we pivoted. We decided to create our own luck. We decided to open big standalone stores. And this changed the fate of the company,” said Sajan.

“The strategy really helped us. It defined who we are. And now they (shopping malls) are chasing us. They have seen our brand grow so strong in such a big manner. So, they want us.”

Since 2014, he said, there has been no looking back as Danube Home grew at a rapid pace. Today, Danube Home has 17 showrooms in the UAE, Oman, Bahrain and India, and in malls too.

“We opened our first store for Danube Home in 2014. Since then to 2020, we have grown our business by seven times.”

Danube Home registered 25 per cent growth last year. And Sajan said plans are afoot to open 5 new stores in 2022.

“Next year we are looking at a growth of about 25 per cent. We have one store in Abu Dhabi and plan to open a second store by June next year,” Sajan added.

Danube partners with FAB for housing loan programme

Danube Home has announced a partnership with First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) to support the National Housing Loan (NHL) beneficiaries through the newly launched Baitak Hilmak programme.

The NHL programme provides citizens in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and western regions interest free housing loans to construct or renovate their home or purchase ready homes. FAB facilitates this government initiative by offering to citizens building and financial management services.

With Baitak Hilmak, Danube Home shall offer benefits like additional discounts, 3D interior designing services, gift vouchers, express delivery, dedicated account manager and designer, and other exclusive services to the FAB NHL beneficiaries.

The partnership, announced during a contractors’ conclave held in Abu Dhabi, is expected to bring great saving opportunities for the NHL beneficiaries.

“The collaboration is a win-win situation not only for the end customer but also the contractor because they get enough discounts and quality products from our showrooms,” Anis Sajan, vice-chairman of Danube Group, said.

Sajan underlined that the brand offers a one-stop solution for all home interior requirements.

“I head the Milano products, which covers sanitary, hardware, electrical as well as tiles. Milano brand offers quality, price assurance and all products under one roof, plus the extra incentive because of the NHL.”

During the event, Danube Home launched the Baitak Hilmak mobile app.

Also, every contractor from NHL, who builds the dream home of the beneficiary, is eligible for special perks and other benefits, through Danube Home’s contractor loyalty programme – privileged partners’ programme.

— ashwani@khaleejtimes.com