Have you read the Da Vinci Code? Are you christian How do you feel about the scandal surrounding this film? Will you go watch it? I personally will definitely go ... So our interview began with the owner of the Bin Hendi group of companies, one of the wealthiest people in the UAE, a gentleman, a foodie, a fashionista and just a charming person - Mohidin bin Handy. He started only with questions, not us ...
Mohidin bin Handy, who until 1998 held a high state post and headed the Dubai Civil Aviation Department, stood at the origins of the now-famous Dubai air show. Today, the name of Mohidin bin Handy is well known to all fans and connoisseurs of fashionable clothes, delicious food, expensive accessories, prestigious furniture and many other things that surround us in everyday life in the UAE.
- Mr. bin Handy, please tell us how you got from the world of aviation to the world of high fashion?
- Well, this did not happen yesterday or even in the nineties of the last century. In fact, I am a terrible fashionista and I love beautiful and fashionable clothes to such an extent that in my early youth I traveled to European capitals to buy something interesting and unusual. For example, I could put on some bright yellow trousers or an orange tie. In general, he liked to attract attention. So, in one of my trips to Paris, in 1978, I met Pierre Cardin. And in the same year, he opened the first Pierre Cardin boutique in Deira. Imagine Dubai in the late seventies? There were no decent houses either, but people went to my store, and the level of sales in it was simply overwhelming. Then I opened a multi-brand boutique, and much later, the first Hugo Boss stores appeared in Dubai. I have always been aimed only at success, which is why, I think, everything has always worked out for me.
Today, the Bin Hendi Group represents in the Gulf countries leading brands of luxury men's clothing, shoes and accessories - Brioni, Hugo Boss, Paul & Shark, GFF, Artioli, Porche Design and many others. In Dubai, there are only eight Hugo Boss stores. Not every world capital can boast of such a quantity, because everything depends on the policy of the company itself - the brand holder. We are expanding our presence in the countries of the region. Recently, we opened Hugo Boss boutiques in three cities in India - Delhi, Bombay (Mumbai) and Bangalore. And work in this direction continues.
- Please tell us in more detail about your new concept - Bin Hendi Avenue.
- Bin Hendi Avenue is a boutique gallery where you can buy fashionable, beautiful and expensive clothes and accessories of all brands available in our portfolio. One of our recent acquisitions I can name such a famous Italian brand as Baldassarini. Moreover, thanks to this particular brand, we were pleased with the magnificent collections of the beautiful half of humanity almost for the first time. The design of Bin Hendi Avenue is strict and concise, while endowed with a fair amount of grace and elegance. It is light and airy, with wood panels, chromed, mirrored and glass surfaces, original designer furniture and superbly placed lighting to create a feeling of exceptional luxury. We are very pleased that we were able to rent spacious shopping areas (more than 7000 square meters) located under the Bin Hendi Avenue, located in the most popular shopping center - Deira City Center.
We present here all our brands under one roof: Hugo Boss, GF Ferre, Zilli, Brioni, Paul & Shark, Artioli, the already mentioned Baldassarini and some others. In addition, Avenue offers great jewelry and watches in specialized boutiques such as Bin Hendi Jewellry, Graff, Porche Design, Pure Gold and Masood Jewelery. For the convenience of customers, several cafes and restaurants are open, including the Japengo Cafe, the Italian trattoria Bella Donna, the Second Cup coffee shop, the Chinese Noodle House and the Mugg and Bean cafe.
Of course, with the advent of such a mega-mall as Dubai of Mall of The Emirates in Dubai, and also, taking into account the reputation of the BurJuman Center and Wafi City, which focus on the most expensive and prestigious brands of clothing, shoes and accessories, Deira City Center can be condescendingly considered middle-class shopping center. However, I bet. Deira City Center, as before, remains the "heart" of the old city. Representatives of the middle class and very wealthy people come here with pleasure to shop. Therefore, the appearance in this shopping center Bin Hendi Avenue is no coincidence.
Roof overhead, clothes and food
- What else, besides well-known brands of clothes and shoes, does the Bin Hendi Group do?
- Everyone in the world! (Laughs). I really love life in all its manifestations, and therefore I believe that any normal person needs three things: a roof over his head, clothes and food. We already talked about clothes, but as for the rest ... Our company presents several networks of popular and inexpensive cafes - Cafe Havana, Japengo Cafe and Mini Chinese. They all differ in concept, but the principle that unites them is the same - food should be exceptionally fresh, tasty and inexpensive.
The idea of Japengo Cafe, for example, came about through my own whim. I really love Japanese cuisine and especially sushi and sashimi. But there are a huge number of people who are afraid to eat raw fish. Once, inviting one of my friends to a business lunch at a sushi bar, I realized that my friend here, literally, has nothing to eat. Moreover, for a long time he was telling everyone that Mohidin tried to feed him raw fish when so much normal food was served around him. After that incident, I decided to create a cafe where there will be dishes of different cuisines - Italian, Japanese, and American, so that every visitor can choose their own food. And now, having lunch at the Japengo Cafe, I enjoy watching families where adults eat spaghetti and sushi, while children eat hamburgers and pizza.
But even this is not the point. The criterion for the huge popularity of all the cafes in our group, I consider the highest quality of the served dishes. All the chefs working at Bin Hendi unanimously say that only a good piece of meat becomes a good steak. And there are no cooking secrets here. Plain hot frying pan, salt and pepper. That is why we buy only the highest quality products. And the good, as you know, is difficult to spoil.
- What about the "roof over your head"?
- The Bin Hendi group of companies includes its own civil engineering division Bin Hendi Construction, as well as the real estate company Alpha Properties. Of course, when such a construction boom is taking place in the country, we cannot remain aloof. In addition, we are the owners of Baituti furniture boutiques, which present not only elite furniture and household goods, but also build a whole concept for the design of a modern home. I advise you to come in, to inquire ...
Rest is a change of activity
- Judging by your words, you work around the clock without sleep and rest. How do you do everything?
- I love my job. I like when the companies of my group work successfully. The point is not only in the profit we receive. Money, in fact, is not paramount. The main thing is that everything you do will bring you joy, and benefit society. Then your business makes sense. The Bin Hendi Group employs more than 3,000 people, and all of them are one team.
Now, many people do not withstand the rhythm of modern life, complain of stress and fatigue. For example, I believe that stress is when a person does something wrong. When you are not sure of your actions and decisions, when you cannot calculate the consequences of something said or done by you, then stress comes, your hands become cottony and wet, your head stops thinking constructively, and there comes a general numbness. And when you do the right thing, there is neither fatigue nor lethargy, only the desire to go forward and have time as much as possible.
Yes, I have little time left to rest, so I try to devote it to my family, children, and sport. I am a passionate fisherman, diving, swimming perfectly and really love the sea. A wonderful vacation on the east coast - in Fujairah, Khorfakkan. In the mornings, I really like cycling around Jumeirah, from my domad of the Burj Al Arab Hotel. In general, for me, rest is not a sofa and a TV, but a change of one activity to another.
- Don't you really watch TV at all?
- Look. And I will also be doing a new, alternative television in the UAE. Our group has already acquired a block of shares in a television channel where we are going to shoot programs aimed at a multinational audience living in the Emirates. It is so interesting, to talk about ordinary life here in the UAE, about different cultures, to show foreign films (Russian, French, Italian, Japanese and so on) with subtitles in English and Arabic, to shoot programs about schoolchildren and students, young families , history and culture of the country ... Yes, you never know what. We want to be in the thick of things, as today's Dubai is such an interesting place for life and business that I want to tell the whole world about it.
- We want to wish you good luck in all your endeavors, and what could you say to our readers?
- I really love Russia and Russian people. They are very sincere and open. I visited Moscow in the 90s and I think that a lot has changed there since then. I want to wish your readers peace and well. Thank you for writing in your magazines and guidebooks about what interests people from Russia and the CIS who come to the UAE for leisure or business. I am very pleased that now in the magazine "Russian Emirates" information will be published on projects and brands of the Bin Hendi Group. I welcome such mutually beneficial cooperation and do not say goodbye. See you soon on the pages of your publications.
Interviewed by Irina Ivanova, Elena Olkhovskaya
