Philip Skaff Buys Out Brothers
November 19, 2009
BEIRUT, Lebanon - Philip Skaff has purchased all of the stock held by his brothers for 40 years in G.P. Skaff & Son, an important middle to high-end fabric wholesaler in the Middle East with branches in Dubai, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria and the U.K.
Sales of the company today are in the $15-million range with expectations of $40 million in the future, said G.P. Skaff, now managing director. The principals of the company are now Philip Skaff, his four daughters and his son G.P. The daughters are not active, only their brother G.P. and his father run the day to day business.
Philip now holds 100 percent of the shares in the company, Skaff Holdings, which includes Skaff S.A.L. and Skaff Home Collection. Skaff Holdings has merged with Abutex, an agent for Skaff in the Gulf Countries, owned by G.P. as well as Tiska, the import/export company based in Beirut. In addition ''Les Galleries,'' a furniture trading company has also been placed under the Skaff Holdings umbrella.
The original G.P. Skaff & Sons began in Beirut with a ten-square-meter showroom in 1963 under the guidance of the founder, Philip's father. Today, there are 6,000 square meters of space in 12 showrooms; six of these showrooms are in Beirut.
Skaff buys pieces from converters like Bru and Vay and SMD. ''These companies keep stock and ship quickly,'' said G.P. ''We can get instant delivery instead of waiting for two months production time from mills.''
Skaff consolidates shipments in Antwerp, Belgium and ships to Beirut twice a week, G.P continued. ''This is a new strategy for us after 46 years of doing business with mills only. We are maintaining a closer relationship with interior designers. We expect to open other showrooms in Qatar, Oman, Saudi, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia,'' he said.
According to G.P., Skaff is a client of Designers Guild in Lebanon among two others. Maison d'Art, managed by Arig Jandali, based in Dubai, is the sole exclusive distributor of Designers Guild in the Middle East and Gulf region. ''We have a showroom dedicated to designers in which we display all the products of Designers Guild and others,'' he said. ''The showroom is called, 'Designers at Skaff.'''
Sales of the company today are in the $15-million range with expectations of $40 million in the future, said G.P. Skaff, now managing director. The principals of the company are now Philip Skaff, his four daughters and his son G.P. The daughters are not active, only their brother G.P. and his father run the day to day business.
Philip now holds 100 percent of the shares in the company, Skaff Holdings, which includes Skaff S.A.L. and Skaff Home Collection. Skaff Holdings has merged with Abutex, an agent for Skaff in the Gulf Countries, owned by G.P. as well as Tiska, the import/export company based in Beirut. In addition ''Les Galleries,'' a furniture trading company has also been placed under the Skaff Holdings umbrella.
The original G.P. Skaff & Sons began in Beirut with a ten-square-meter showroom in 1963 under the guidance of the founder, Philip's father. Today, there are 6,000 square meters of space in 12 showrooms; six of these showrooms are in Beirut.
Skaff buys pieces from converters like Bru and Vay and SMD. ''These companies keep stock and ship quickly,'' said G.P. ''We can get instant delivery instead of waiting for two months production time from mills.''
Skaff consolidates shipments in Antwerp, Belgium and ships to Beirut twice a week, G.P continued. ''This is a new strategy for us after 46 years of doing business with mills only. We are maintaining a closer relationship with interior designers. We expect to open other showrooms in Qatar, Oman, Saudi, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia,'' he said.
According to G.P., Skaff is a client of Designers Guild in Lebanon among two others. Maison d'Art, managed by Arig Jandali, based in Dubai, is the sole exclusive distributor of Designers Guild in the Middle East and Gulf region. ''We have a showroom dedicated to designers in which we display all the products of Designers Guild and others,'' he said. ''The showroom is called, 'Designers at Skaff.'''
