Nurettin Eroğlu - Bloomberg Ht Ali Çağatay ile Anahaber - Canlı Yayın 05.03.2019

Yes Ali, we are from Aksaray in Central Anatolia. We are eight siblings, five brothers. We started working in Çağaloğlu for a garment maker, learned the trade, and in 1983 founded our own business in a 65 m² workshop. After contract work, we began selling wholesale across Turkey. We entered denim in 1987 to balance seasonal production. In the early 90s, we started exporting to Russia and Eastern Europe. The brand name 'Colin's' came from anglicizing 'Kulis'. In the 1994 crisis, we shifted fully to exports, especially Russia. From 94 to 98, demand was huge, but the 1998 Russian crisis forced us to produce for international brands. We split: 25% for our own brand, 75% for major global brands. Now we have factories in Çorlu, Aksaray, and Egypt. We produce 20 million jeans and 6 million knitwear items annually. Direct employment is 16,000, indirect 50,000. We have 750 stores, 200 in Turkey and 550 abroad, primarily in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Belarus, Poland. In Russia, brand awareness is 76%. We are in all cities over 400,000.

From 94 to 98, it was entirely Russia. We couldn't meet demand. Cash payments were massive. We had built a second large factory. Then the 1998 crisis hit—the ruble collapsed from 6 to 24 overnight. That pushed us to work with international brands. We split production: our own brand and contract manufacturing. That structure continues today.

We are expanding the second phase of our Aksaray factory to boost Turkey production. Direct employees: 16,000, with about 6,000 in production in Turkey, the rest in Egypt and stores. We produce 20 million jeans: 3 million under Colin's, 17 million for other brands. Also 6 million knitwear. 750 stores globally. We are focusing on Asia, especially India, Pakistan, China. In Egypt we produce and sell our brand. In Turkey, we are moving production east and central to boost employment.

The 20 million is our own production. For Colin's and Loft, we source about 50 million from external suppliers—mostly Turkish for domestic sales due to price competition. For Russia, Ukraine, and other foreign markets, we buy from India, China, Bangladesh, Egypt. Of the 20 million, 3 million go to Colin's, 17 million to ten major global brands. We also make 6 million knitwear.

We entered Russia in 1994. Now Colin's is well-known: 76% of Russians recognize the brand. We are in all cities over 400,000, from Ufa to Siberia. All stores are company-owned, not franchise. We can bring money back to Turkey within two days. It's a source of pride.

We entered real estate in 2008. With nearly 250,000 m² of factories and 750 stores, construction was natural. We are a large family with a creative side. In 10 years we completed 17 projects totaling about 2.5 million m², roughly $1.5 billion investment, including housing, offices, shopping malls, and logistics. We have 4 malls, over 6,000 housing units, 250-300 thousand m² of office, and 100,000 m² of logistics. Most are in Istanbul, also in Fethiye and Antalya. We wanted to do construction in Russia and Ukraine but faced trust and legal issues. Maybe in the future.

Our brand is growing 120% every year. We are focusing more on Asia: India, Pakistan, China. We are already strong in Russia. In Egypt, we are ramping up both production and our brand. In Turkey, we are expanding production in the east and central Anatolia by cutting in our main factory and sewing in other regions to boost employment.