Air strikes, outages, shortages and political trauma is what the everyday is made of in Palestine. Doing business here and that too for women is not an easy task. There are several layers of disappointment and trouble that ne has to wade through to begin somewhere. And two women, faced by their own disappointment concerning lingerie decided to take up the task of turning their problems into a solution for many.
In September 2015, Christina Ganim and Nicola Isabel began a revolution of sorts for lingerie and flagged off the e commerce platform Kenz. Kenz means “treasure” in Arabic. With the unique idea and concept of treating every women as a precious being. The two ladies named their brand Kenz. They believe every women deserves to be treasured (by herself and by her partner), and that each piece of lingerie in itself is a small treasure too. Connecting these two aspects beautifully and with much honesty and simplicity, they christened their brand as KENZ.
Kenz celebrates the idea of lingerie and understands how the same has the potential to make or break your day! In addition to an online business, Ganim and Isabel also host pop up shops in Ramallah and have started the very first online lingerie bridal registry in the Middle East. While lingerie chains like La Perla and Victoria’s Secret are no more a rare sight in the Middle Eastern cities like Dubai and Beirut, in Palestine such businesses have not moved in. Instead, Palestine is synonymous to day-to-day restrictions on freedom of movement, crippling taxes on imports, and severe security inspections for mailed packages. Palestinians have to rely on local market sellers for their intimates. The local market for lingerie is uninspiring and of course lacks class and effectiveness.
Buying lingerie in Palestine is almost equal to doing your regular vegetable shopping from the street side vendor. You bargain for price, keep moving through the heaps of lingerie in sight to decipher what would fit you and then negotiate further and seal on the product, without any trial of course just depending on your luck to a great extent. Buying International brands if of course another fate marked incident. Sometimes the local lingerie sellers do get smuggled lingerie. But overall it is a derogatory experience and involves a lot of prying eyes and undue hacks related to negotiations.
Nicola Isabel and Christina Ganim promises to make the Palestinian women comfortable with their lingerie sojourn and brings them the best of experience and classy International brands cutting away from the customs problem and other difficulties. We decided to talk to them to hear it first person from them regarding their journey, trials and achievements in having to do something that is surely a first ever in Palestine. In conversation with Nicola and Christina.
Let’s walk through the flashback and see how did Kenz happen! So tell us a little about the beginning and the behind the scene story.
We came up with the idea to start Kenz due to personal frustrating shopping experiences of trying to buy lingerie ourselves in the region. We could never find what we were looking for, so we thought it would be a good opportunity to start the venture. Christina and I have been close friends for 7 years, and were working together at a mobile tech start-up in Palestine full time. We started working on Kenz on evenings and weekends. Eventually, we made the switch to full time on Kenz and were accepted to the Fast-forward acceleration program in Ramallah where we were given the help (financially and business wise) we needed to really move the business forward. Lingerie shopping is usually an awkward experience, most of our friends dread going to the mall to buy lingerie. E-commerce seems like a natural fit for lingerie, especially since many of the lingerie shops in the region are owned by men. It’s more private and comfortable to buy online.
A first ever lingerie venture in Palestine. It surely feels wow! But what did you both have to face to come this far?
Christina and I both don’t have backgrounds in business or finance, and many of our challenges involved educating ourselves on the details of starting a tech business. We both love lingerie and had knowledge about the industry before we started Kenz, but we’ve also had to learn a lot more about brands and sizing and what works in the region. We have unique challenges starting the business in Palestine because of the Israeli occupation though. For example, Christina can’t physically travel to Jerusalem to pick up samples from the post office because she has a Palestinian ID card. I am American (not Palestinian) so I have a freedom to travel around the country that she does not have. It sounds complicated, but Palestinians are used to operating under difficult restrictions and tough situations. Some people are shocked we wanted to start the business here, but operating costs are relatively low and since it’s an e-commerce site we can really be based anywhere with an internet connection! Outside of the business aspects, we are both passionate about contributing to a Palestinian economy and giving back to Palestine.
Can you shed some light on the lingerie and intimate apparel industry in this area?
We are currently focusing on the Saudi Arabian market, and have plans to expand to the entire GCC and eventually the whole region. The lingerie market in the Middle East is estimated at around $1B, and this number came from Reem Asaad, the Saudi woman responsible for leading a campaign to ban men from working in lingerie stores in Saudi Arabia. Asaad, who has a background in finance, helped to get a royal decree passed so that only women could be employed in lingerie stores all over Saudi Arabia. Globally, the lingerie industry is estimated at over $20B and growing. Although you have the major giants in the region like Victoria’s Secret, Calvin Klein, Triumph International, etc. there are several lingerie startups emerging globally, who are solving problems these giants have ignored, whether its sizing, style, or shopping experience.
Smuggled lingerie and local choices I believe rule the lingerie sector here. How far have Kenz been able to pull the women to their stable?
Again, we’re focusing on the Saudi market so there are other choices for women there (generally chains in shopping malls). We aim to offer brands that aren’t available in the region, and offer a discreet, comfortable shopping experience online. We are carrying plus-size lingerie, which is more difficult to find all over the region. Women are very excited to have different plus size options.
When it comes to lingerie, how does women respond to the same in this region and are they open to experimentations?
Many foreigners are shocked when they see the styles that are popular in the region. Generally, women like very bright colors and risque styles. Lingerie is extremely popular across the Middle East, it is not taboo and women are not shy about to purchase it. People are very open to different styles of lingerie, and are often interested in styles that seem very wild to people in the West.
Have any impact of globalization influenced women and their lingerie buying insights in this region?
I’m not sure I’d say that globalization has affected how women buy lingerie in the region, many women travel abroad and are aware of different brands.
Being women, and setting up a business in Palestine, specially a lingerie business. What hurdles did you both cross to make this happen?
We haven’t faced obstacles in Palestine specifically as female entrepreneurs actually. There is a close community of entrepreneurs here, and everyone has been extremely supportive and helpful. We’ve been lucky to have many mentors who help us as we grow the business. We try to be culturally sensitive with the images we post, and not to post anything that shows a lot of skin.
So what is the retail model that Kenz follows? What are the brands that you are stocking at the moment?
We carry 13 brands at the moment, including Kiss Kill, Clo Intimo, Skarlett Blue, Le Mystere, Ongossamer, and Fantasy. We hold inventory for some of the brands in Saudi Arabia, and for others we operate with a drop-shipping model.
What brands do you want to stock up soon? Any fight when it comes to convincing the brands to stock up their collections with Kenz?
We have been very lucky with brands, and haven’t had challenges with brands agreeing to be carried on Kenz! Many Western brands are eager to penetrate the Middle Eastern market, so to be part of Kenz is relatively low-stakes for them. We are working on adding more plus-size brands and further expanding our selection.
Let’s talk about the price range and collection available on Kenz. What sells the most?
Currently, we have bras ranging from $35 – $150 and from 30A – 38G. We are very committed to carrying as many sizes and price points as possible. So far, our plus-size lingerie is selling the most (2XL and 3XL).
You have stepped on to your second year with Kenz, so how far you all feel the mentalities of people have changed in this span of time?
We haven’t noticed a big change in mentality, because it isn’t taboo for people to buy lingerie in the Middle East. Aside from lingerie, shopping online is still relatively new in the Middle East, so people are getting more and more comfortable with it as time passes. Most of our orders are cash on deliver (meaning the delivery person accepts the cash for the package) because people are wary to use credit cards online.
Do men too shop for their women from you all?
We have many male customers who order gifts for their wives. It’s especially awkward for a man to shop at a lingerie store in malls in the region, and we’ve received a lot of feedback from male customers that they are thrilled to have the option to order online and in private!
Any expansion plans to open up the lingerie market for other remote places?
We are focusing on Saudi Arabia for now, then will expand across the GCC countries, and eventually the Levant and North Africa.
What are the support or annoyance you have to handle as far as the Government, Logistics or day to day operational problems are concerned?
We have had issues registering a tax file in Palestine because e-commerce is still quite new here, and so the tax office had to develop new procedures for this particular kind of business. Logistics is also a challenge for all e-commerce businesses region, there are still many challenges with shipping companies. We have a logistics partner now that we are generally satisfied with, but it is hard to reach rural areas still. With time, logistics will get easier and more streamlined in the Middle East.
Lastly, just sum up both of your journey so far and leave us a nice message for our readers!
So far, we have really enjoyed starting Kenz and have learned more than we imagined! It is extremely challenging to start your own business (anywhere in the world, and especially in Palestine), but we feel so motivated when we get feedback from happy customers who feel great in their lingerie. It’s especially exciting to offer trendy plus-size options that are hard for women to find, and make them feel good in their skin. We are also very excited to be featured in LacenLingerie, and are huge fans of Indian lingerie e-commerce sites (like Zivame and Clovia).
lingerie bussiness are good to go