Maureen Hall, Founder & CEO, COEGA Sunwear
Maureen Hall established COEGA Sunwear almost 20 years ago in the UAE, with the launch of a single product, the COEGA Pool shoe. Today, COEGA products are available in 12 countries in over 115 retail locations and water parks and 8 leading e-commerce platforms.
The brand has over 100 different styles of UV protected swimwear, including an extensive and exclusive range of modest swimwear across all categories.
“I was a helicopter technician by profession in the Canadian Airforce and setup COEGA Sunwear when we moved to Dubai in 2000. With my knowledge in sewing and patternmaking, I work closely with the design and production teams to ensure that we are on trend with the latest styles and colours in the industry, and we have maintained the COEGA promise of quality over the years. I am proud to say that we are homegrown brand, ‘Made in UAE’ as we continue to manufacture locally in the UAE, and moreover, I am pleased with our growing focus on sustainability within our collections,” Hall reminisces her humble inception story.
Future on point
Keeping the future and growth in mind, Hall and her team are strategic with their approach andlists down some focus areas as:
1) Innovation in design and technology to stay abreast with the latest trends and developments.
2) Minimum wastage in design and production processes to ensure minimal landfill impact.
3) Online/digital focus to broaden the brand’s reach and increase market share, apart from spreading brand awareness.
4) Diversification into other global markets where there is a gap and potential for their swimwear.
5) To stay ahead of the game and increase focus on their modest range, including mid to high modest coverage, as modest fashion is predicted for exponential growth in the coming years.
Online for growth
“We launched our online presence in Q4 of 2019 and our revenue percentage from online sales is showing a growth curve year on year. With our ongoing focus on digital strategy, we expect to increase our online sales to generate 10-15% of our overall sales revenue the end of 2024,” Hall explained her growth plans.
Apart from being highly sustainable in their operations, manufacturing, sourcing and other processes, COEGA is conscious about customer expectations too. The brand follows a strict process when it comes to onboarding employees and trains their retail staff to understand customer needs with more focus to deliver the right product fit.