Crafting a Thrifty Dynasty: Toufic Kreidieh, CEO of Brands For Less, Pioneers the Budget Empire
Toufic Kreidieh, the Founding Partner and CEO of Brands for Less, has spent 25 years building the company from the ground up. Starting off with $10,000 that he had to scrape together, Kreidieh opened the first store in an underground parking lot in Beirut in 1996. Now, Brands for Less is a thriving off-price retailer with more than 80 outlets throughout the Middle East and Malta, as well as a strong online presence.
Kreidieh is proud of how Brands for Less changed retail in the region and created a new way of shopping. He states, “We are really proud to be the people who engineered this off-price model in the Middle East.”
Brands for Less allows shoppers to feel like they are on a ‘treasure hunt’ when buying coveted items from top brands at significantly reduced prices. Since debuting in the UAE in 2000, Brands for Less has built a loyal customer base and has proven especially popular when the economy is down, such as during the COVID-19 pandemic. Kreidieh notes, “Our business really booms in days of crisis,” citing major expansions during both the 2008 financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic.
As Brands for Less expands, Kreidieh says the company stays focused on its key markets. The UAE continues to be its primary market more than two decades after Kreidieh used personal loans to open a store in Dubai. Brands for Less also has a presence in Oman, Qatar and Kuwait, and will soon be opening in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
In an effort to reach a new audience, Kreidieh has turned to TikTok to connect with a younger generation of shoppers who are brand-savvy but budget-conscious. It took some trial and error, but Brands for Less has found success on the platform. The off-price retailer’s first TikTok post amassed 1.4 million views.
Kreidieh, who was the eldest son in a single-parent household and worked from the age of 11 to help support his family, once held an administrative job in Saudi Arabia that paid him $700 a month. Now, a quarter-century later, he is still dedicated to growing his business and giving value to shoppers looking for something special without breaking the bank.
