Abu Dhabi – The enterprising spirit of Brazilian Erika Saleh took her to many cities in Europe and in the United States. But it was in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where she lives since 2011, that she found herself.
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Erika is the owner of the spa Sao Paulo Ladies Salon, located in the Dubai Marina Walk. Run under a Brazilian system, it offers services and treatments to wealthy customers, with a staff trained for the practices used in women beauty salons in Brazil. By the way, part of the staff, and most of the beauty products, come from the home country of the owner.
Since 2015 located in the place that the businesswoman calls the “heart of Dubai”, the salon now is planning an expansion. Last year, Erika got the approval to open franchises of the Sao Paulo Ladies Salon throughout the Gulf region. “Now, I’m looking for a partner to help me in this new phase, since I can’t do it all by myself,” said the owner to ANBA in Abu Dhabi during the Brazilian Festival, the event organized jointly by the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce and Abu Dhabi’s Yas Mall.
According to the entrepreneur, some meetings with potential investors are being held, but since she doesn’t plan to go forward without a partner, she hasn’t set yet a deadline to open the salon’s first franchise.
“What I can say is that what I have to offer is a quality product that has got everything to be successful,” she said, reinforcing that the salon has clients from dozens of nationalities, including Brazilians. “We have an agreement with [airline] Emirates, the wives of the pilots get discounts in the salon.”
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The businesswoman shows, proudly, a sign of the Sao Paulo Ladies Salon in a wall in the region of the Dubai Marina Walk, according to her, the only Brazilian salon authorized to do this type of advertising in all the emirate. She says that to be able to get this authorization demanded a lot of work, as well as get all the documentation to open the salon, which is outside the free trade zone. Erika is married to an UAE citizen.
Born in Campinas, Erika opened her first business when she was 15 years old. The enterprising spirit that she has since she was a child and the dream of getting to know the world brought her experiences in Los Angeles, Spain and Ireland, among other countries. Now in Dubai, she doesn’t plan to move so soon.
“I fell in love with the Middle East. When I first got here, I thought: It’s here that I want to stay,” concluded the businesswoman.
Quick info
Sao Paulo Ladies Salon
Dubai Marina Walk, Al Habtoor Residence Tower, 4th floor
Further information: http://www.saopauloladiessalon.com/
http://www.facebook.com/saopauloladiessalonspa
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
