From Repairs to Retails: The Roots of inci from 1917 to 1987 The Story of inci is traced back to 1917 when the forefathers of the family migrated to Istanbul and started a shoe repairs business which later became a small shoe store that sold children’s shoes and in-house slippers. It was in 1947 that Ahmet Nuri Kızıltaş, representing the second generation and working with his father, moved the store to its new premises in Fatih where inci has since became a household name as fully-fledged commercial operation. Upon receiving his law degree and completing his university studies, Nuri Kızıltaş took over the business from his father and he relocated the store to serve more effectively and with ever-greater capacity the growing and prospering population of shoppers in Istanbul. inci Fatih, the brand name under which the shoe business expanded was among the pioneers of modern-day retail operations in the market, implementing new sales strategies, public relations and inventory systems while maintaining a focus on quality of products. The concept of quality at inci Fatih has built on single most potent factor: customer satisfaction! Customer satisfaction as manifested in all possible meanings of the word constituted the basis of the procurement, sales and after-sales commercial activities of inci Fatih. inci Fatih defined “quality” on two grounds: a) durability, strength of products, b) offering a “classy” collection of products that are yet functional and affordable. It was this understanding of “quality” that has strongly engraved inci brand in the minds of generations of shoppers as a reliable and preferred “shop” in the market. In the early 80’s the third generation came aboard, bringing in a fresh and more contemporary outlook to the family business. The grounds for transformation to a more dynamic and expanding outfit were eminent when Nuri Kızıltaş turned over the management and future decision-making in his business to the youngsters in the family in 1987. The company appeared prepared to ride with the new rising tides of the developments in consumer markets in the country. A new and younger generation of urban population had brought in a different drive for quality, variety and change in Turkish retail markets and inci, with its strong heritage and new and enthusiastic management team, was ready to start its journey to outgrow its traditional market and become a national brand in the country. en route to Nationwide Branding: inci since 1989 to present inci Fatih remained the only retail store until 1989 when the second store was opened on the Asian side of Istanbul, at Kadiköy. inci Kadıköy was an opportune step in initiation of inci Chain of Stores in a time when consumer expectations were dramatically changing along with changing demographics and so were patterns of shopping in Turkey. Kadıköy was soon followed by other sales points at Bakırköy (1992) and Akmerkez (1994) as the company was well set on a new path of expansion as a regional retailing operation. In 1993, the expansion process was carried over to other provinces in the country, starting with the first franchise store in Konya in the Central Anatolian region. The first company-owned store outside of Istanbul was also opened in 1993 in İzmit, in the Marmara region. Rising levels of inventory feed to support the expanding sales network soon resulted in the need to ensure a more reliable and innovative supply base for inci. The new management was faced with the rising demand from the sales network to provide for them a steady and timely supply of good quality products and the company, then, had the option of entering into the production field, introducing a new phase in its vertical integration process. Thus, was the new investment in the first production facilities of the Group in Istanbul, in 1994. Starting initially with strategic partners who were expected to bring in the necessary know-how in the industrial part of the operations, inci quickly proceeded with the buy-out of her partners and gained full operational control of its manufacturing subsidiary in 1995. The new acquired production unit remained under the technical supervision of an Italian management team in 1995 through 2000 during which the production unit was transformed from a “workshop” operation to a fully-fledged, mass production “factory” operation. In 1994, the company attended Düsseldorf GDS fair, with its brand name Balans, as an exhibitor with other Turkish shoe exhibitors. During the early years of attending the Düsseldorf GDS fair, Balans had trouble finding international customers for its products. So in 1996 the inspector of GDS fair was invited to Istanbul to assess the collection of Balans and upon their favorable reviews, Balans was admitted in the next GDS Fair specifically organized for internationally recognized brands. Participation in this internationally recognized event marked the beginning of inci’s activities in international markets. Starting with Belgium and Italian buyers of shoes and leather products, inci has, since, become active in over 32 markets worldwide and started to build important brand recognition in high quality shoes and leather products markets in the international arena. Today inci is a well known retailing group company as a brand and as a shoe manufacturer with its modern factory, 41 company owned stores and 21 franchises in Turkey and abroad, and employing a workforce of more than 400.