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Raza Beig: A Splash on high street

Raza Beig, CEO of one of the most iconic brands in the region, opens up chapters in his life — alongside the fashion retail landscape

For almost an hour, the flamboyant Raza Beig is a photographer’s delight at the Splash store in the Mall of the Emirates. A lot of general banter — his having to hold his breath so his tummy can stay tucked in occupies a lot of the talk time — ensues… It’s all very pleasant with Raza being a total sport about posing a million times over. He puts the photographer at ease, respectfully gives way to customers (they have no idea what’s going on) who keep crossing his path and flashes his million-dirham smile in quicker succession than the clicks of a speedy shutter.

The shoot over, we sit down to talk shop. It’s easy chatting with Raza: he’s clearly media-savvy, his opinions are well-honed, he’s sharp as a button. But my most interesting observation is that he is very matter-of-fact about his initial struggles. Almost downplays them.

He was seven when his dad passed away — and his family was left out of its considerable inheritance. “So yes, it was difficult for us — my mom, me and my five siblings… I had a little catching up to do in life at a very early age. I did odd things to keep the boat afloat,” he shrugs. “I picked up milk for the neighbours; I’ve been a tutor, a model, a tour conductor, a PR executive…” He offsets the “oddness” with “interesting”; he says he found everything interesting (“My modelling stint, for instance, other than getting me decent money, gave me a leg up within my circle of friends — it was my ‘status symbol’, a badge of honour!”)

And, “All of these taught me to be the man I am today.”

What makes this line particularly significant is that his success story at Splash has, in many ways, been a throwback to his earlier life in Bombay.

He started “teaching” when he was 13, coaching the laundryman’s kindergarten-going son — so his clothes could be washed/ironed free of cost. When his student’s performance started improving in school, Raza got more tuition offers by virtue of word of mouth. “I realised I was a good teacher: students listened to me. I’d also make them self-learn so they trained themselves.”

By the time he was in his late teens, Raza was teaching in batches, “like a proper class”: algebra, geometry, physics, chemistry, biology (“I was terrible in physics, but I had my way,” he confesses). He had morning classes at college, from 7am to 11am; after that, it would be tuition time till late into the night. “It was real hard work; I missed classes at college and got pulled up… the upshot was, by the time I was 20, I had sufficient money to do new things.”

Financially fortified, he started a small garment factory with a classmate, “with 7-8 machines”; “in two years, we were up to 70 machines… we managed our ways even though we were new in the trade… we had a good team… I was good at putting a team together back then.” Unfortunately, the garments business didn’t last too long; “there is only up to a certain limit a partnership works… differences crop up, especially when you are young.”

But, he maintains, it was a great experience, going so far as to state that “probably I am in the fashion business because of it”.

Next up was a cable business that 
he bought out and revived. “I revived 
it in a month’s time; it was simple enough, I had to win back the loyalty of the customer.”

As he sits back in his chair, Raza is still caught up in the past: “There was never any intention ever to come to the Middle East…” I comment on the “never” and “ever” being used in the same sentence, and he laughs. “I was doing so well. There used to be a time when I couldn’t imagine getting a bicycle for myself — I was now driving a Jeep (a red, open one at that), life was looking up, my cable business was doing brilliantly. I was the pride of my family... and friends…”

In one line, “I had taken control of 
my life.”

The Bombay riots — and the relocation

And then, the 1992 Bombay riots 
happened. “I saw a very ugly side of the city… For one, I suffered huge financial losses — my cable lines were all cut as my business was targeted [since I was Muslim]. And I was frightened: there was a day when I saw a mob running towards me.” He escaped in his ‘faithful’ Jeep: “often, it would refuse to start the first few times… not this time.”

One Sunday morning, he opened the newspaper and came across an ad for Bahrain Mothercare (Landmark, the holding company of Splash was, at that time, Bahrain-based) inviting applications for a buyer’s post. “The job sounded really fancy, travelling the world, dabbling in fashion buying... On a whim, I handwrote an application and sent off my first bio-data; it was a ‘beyond bio-data’, talking about stuff like my businesses and my childhood. I must have done something right because I got an interview call.”

Micky and Renuka Jagtiani, the Landmark Group owners, came down to Bombay to conduct the interview. “About 200-300 people had applied for the job, some pretty well-known designers were also there… I won’t take their names,” he grins.

Raza was offered a job as store manager at the group’s first Splash store in Sharjah, not a buyer (since he didn’t have the requisite experience). “All because it was felt I had a spark, there was something ‘nice’ about me.”

He grabbed the opportunity. “I was 25 and I wanted to start afresh. My starting salary was Dh2,500 — while I was making some serious money out of my business in Bombay — but I took it on as a challenge. You know… I was convinced I would be able to handle any kind of drama… If things didn’t work out, I could always return to Bombay.”

Life@the first Splash store

The first Splash store — on Al Wahda Street in Sharjah — had him all overwhelmed, Raza recalls. “Coming from Bombay, I had never seen a shop like that before — beautifully laid out, high ceilings, good music… In those days, the stores were boutique-style… I was bowled over.” The first few days, he was working 18-20 hours a day, in the run-up to the opening. A week or so later, when the store opened, “I was very impressed with my work over the last few days — and very impressed with what Micky and Renuka had put together.”

Soon, he was to realise “this is it”. “I loved interacting with customers, meeting people, the cash flowing in every day — I was on a high.”

He had a new team with him — 11 people who had no retail experience internally, “so bringing them to my level and the consumers’ expectations and maintaining what Micky and Renuka had set as a minimum standard was a challenge.” But he credits Micky and Renuka for giving him a lot of freedom — and trust.

He admits he “had no idea what retail was”. “I had no education in fashion, so putting the whole formula together was a challenge as well.”

He overcame these with “hard work and passion… they always pay off”.

And his earlier knack for team-building?

“Yes, that too.”

Fashion forward

His new innings was centred around Splash. “I was enjoying myself, having fun on the job, budgeting, planning, structuring… It was a great learning phase.” In three months, he was appointed the Splash buyer. Life changed overnight. “I was flying all over the world, London, New York, Hong Kong, new cities… I was constantly on the move, travelling 200-250 days in a year.”

As a fashion buyer, Raza got to explore the scene — live and up-close. He atte-nded fashion shows everywhere, visited stores, checked out fabric factories. “I started out as not really understanding fashion as fashion; I didn’t know anything about colours and cuts. But today, you make me walk into a fashion store, I can tell you the brand’s DNA by just looking around. I can predict what colours will be hot next season, what shapes will be ‘in’.”

He was like a sponge, he says, absor-bing everything. “My teaching career helped me: it had given me the capacity to absorb and then come back and explain to everybody.”

The downside was that he didn’t even have time to make friends. He had “very beautiful homes that were always empty… But I never felt lonely; I was meeting such interesting people — achievers, businessmen, creative artists… I never even thought I had a lonely life, though I was lonely.”

Making a splash

By the time Splash’s second store opened, in 1994, in Abu Dhabi, the brand values had already been incorporated; they stand true even today: “huge variety, exceptional price, cutting edge retail experience”.

“We started out as a multi-brand 
concept, buying a lot of brands from 
India, Indonesia, Thailand — and selling those… And to give these brands position, there were international high-street brands like Lee Cooper, Elle, Capa, UMM — all catering to various segments... So for the first few years, we were traders even as we expanded. When we saw the Zara store in Spain, we envisioned the high street of the future — and realised we had to create our own brands.”

Once the decision to design its own labels was taken, a debate followed: “Should we take external brands out, since our internal brands [that are now the mono-label Splash] would give us better margins?” The vote was a veto. “It was only fair that customers have a choice.” (Currently, the internal:external stock ratio is 70:30.)

Meanwhile, Raza was climbing up the corporate ladder steadily. In 1997-98, he became deputy general manager; 
“I used to joke, ‘I am not anyone’s deputy because there is no general manager’”. In 2000, he was made managing director. In 2005-2006, he donned the CEO’s mantle. “I don’t buy any more. I handed over that responsibility to my colleagues, but till two years ago, every piece in the business was signed by me — even a hairpin.”

Consequently, he has, in the last two years, concentrated more on retail than on buying. “Historically, the change I brought in the business was in the 
product; now, I have started changing marketing processes, the way we look at HR, training…”

He does aspire to make Splash a global brand. “We are already competing very aggressively, very well in this 
market — which is packed with global players. I can, I am sure, if given the right opportunity, compete with them in their home markets.”

Salman Khan and the Being Human line

I just had to ask Raza this: with Salman Khan being a bit of a bad boy (the term ‘Super Brat’ used to be his tag not too many years ago), how does that work for brand endorsement?

For the first time, Raza looks slightly agitated. “No, no, no, I wouldn’t call him that,” he shakes his head emphatically. “Yes, he may have made a few mistakes — I’ve made so many mistakes, we all make mistakes — but, believe me, with Salman, actions speak louder than words. There are thousands whose lives he has touched, he sponsors heart surgeries for the poor, pays their hospital bills… Last year, there was a drought in Maharashtra; Salman had gone for a shoot in the region and saw village women lugging water across great distances. He said he wanted to do something to help — he spent millions on installing water tanks in these villages… The media doesn’t want to talk about the good things, so anything that is negative, we tend to remember… you do 100 good things and one wrong thing, they tend to play up the one bad thing.”

Not one dirham of Being Human’s royalty goes to Salman’s account, Raza adds, it all goes to charity. “I’ve been in fashion retail for more than 20 years and I’ve never seen this kind of a response to a brand. Being Human, from the first season to now, has grown over 200 per cent; we’ve had 100 per cent sell-through collections… It’s rare to see this in the business of fashion with so much all around… there is some magic in this 
man — because he touches the lives of masses… Let’s face it, he’s a phenomenon, he’s a fashion icon, whatever he wears, people tend to follow.”

When ICONIC (Raza is also the CEO of the young ICONIC) opened, Salman was in Dubai for a shoot. At the end of the day, when it was pack-up time, he told all the junior boys and spot boys, some 60-70 of them: “Go, shop at ICONIC, I’ll pay the bill.” Salman then called up Raza and told him, “Look after my boys, they are coming to ICONIC to shop.”

“Now, I can’t tell you how much the bill was,” Raza continues, “but it was huge.” So, yes, Salman Khan is a great brand ambassador.

Personal style

Does he wear his own brand? “If I don’t wear Splash, why should my customers? See, I’m wearing Splash trousers,” he sounds almost triumphant. Today, 70 per cent of his work wear is from Splash. “Four years ago, I’d have said 70 per 
cent of my entire wardrobe is Splash. But these days, for casual wear or evening wear, I veer towards designer, not high street. Because, er, people judge you. And yes, I don’t buy bridge brands any more, I used to splash out on them when I had little money!”

He has this habit of taking a few friends and bombarding the latest collection — at the nearest Splash store — and trying them out enthusiastically.

“And I always wear Splash when I go to talk to my buyers and quality people…”

So, the short answer to my question about him wearing his own brand is: yes.

Maximum City

Will he ever return to India? No, he says, “Dubai is my city, this is home… My friends are here, my family is here, my work is here, why do I need to go back?” Other than the immediacy of a ‘network’, he also feels that it’s the future city of the world and the future retail fashion capital of the world. “I’ve asked all business associates to put money in Dubai.”

That doesn’t mean he is uprooted.

Every year, Raza sends his kids — his 13-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter — to India for two months; they don’t go on ‘international vacations’, spending time instead with his scattered extended family members who still live in smaller towns, away from urban amenities and creature comforts. “The last time my son was there, he had a Facebook status that read: ‘16 hours without power — but it’s so awesome, am loving it’. I was just so proud of him.”

And then, some more

“I wake up every morning, and ask myself ‘ab kya naya aaj hone wala hai?’ [so what will be new today?].” He needs to not get bored. Which is why when I ask him about a vision, a road map, he says: “I do have a planned vision, but my vision keeps changing every two years or so because the goalpost keeps shifting.” Being in the same business for 20 years, he should have been bored to death, he points out. “But I’m not. I’m learning even today — I feel my journey is starting now… ”

The ‘change is constant’ phenomenon is a hallmark he attributes to the fashion retail sector. “Our seasons keep changing, colours keep changing, new trends emerge… everything is constantly new — the day you feel you know it all, you are over in this business.”

In the race for excellence, he concludes, there is no finishing line.

The Jack of many trades — milk-boy, teacher, cable-business owner, garment manufacturer, model — has found his métier.