Kitan, controlled by the Clal concern, was hurt in the first nine months of this year by the crisis in the textile industry, which also forced the company to write-of its investment in Gibor-Sabrina.
The Kitan conglomerate has received exclusive rights from multinational Benetton to distribute the groups clothing in Israel. Kitan will distribute and sell Benetton clothing through the BFK chain of which Kitan holds 50%. The agreement with Benetton grants BFK, which operates through the Golf-Kitan company, an exclusive franchise throught he end of March 2003.
the agreement with Benetton is part of Kitan’s policy to integrate international clothing brand names into its own stores. Glof-Kitan operates 90 stores in Israel through the branches of the Kitan, Golf and Levi’s Store retail chains. Among others, Kitan markets products by Levi’s, Esprit, Camel and OshKosh. Golf-Kitan’s turnover amounted in 1996 to about NIS 370 million. According to the company’s business plan, fifteen Benetton stores will open nationwide in the next three years.
Kitan, controlled by the Clal concern, was hurt in the first nine months of this year by the crisis in the textile industry, which also forced the company to write-of its investment in Gibor-Sabrina. Kitan’s financial results deteriorated due to increased competition in Israel against competitive imports, and due to the economic slowdown. Kitan’s revenues in the first nine months of the year amounted to NIS 562 million, and, following a reorganization plan which also included the closure of production plants, the company closed the period on a loss of NIS 43.2 million.