From Collectibles to Apparel: UFFF, a Leading Retailer Providing All Your Pop Culture Needs in Kuwait

Interview with Mohammad Alwazzan and Nader Khazal, Managing Partners at UFFF

What was the journey to start UFFF?

–Mohammad: In 2018, we started as a distribution company. We wanted to bring brands into Kuwait and we got lucky. We are the distributors of Funko here in Kuwait. That is when we kickstarted the company.

–Nader: Back in 2018, we got the opportunity to take over Funko as an exclusive distributor in Kuwait. Funko, being one of the leading brands globally, requires sub distributors in each of the regions. So, you will have Dubai having a distributor, you will have Kuwait having a distributor, Saudi, etc. We previously had retail background and distribution background, which eased the way to launch Funko into the market given the diverse networking that we had, whether it is entertainment toys or toy specialists, department stores, etc. It was easier for us to penetrate and to tackle Funko in this manner, keeping in mind that Funko was a relatively gray/black market in Kuwait. People used to import Funko figures from the United States or from Europe, hike up the price, and customers or the end consumer were not aware of the true value of the product. That was our biggest challenge: to actually come and streamline the brand and to put it in a place where it deserves to be with proper branding. We grew our doors and we started off with a couple of retailers, local and regional. Then, we started thinking about opening our own retail concept which materialized in March of last year. It was always there, but COVID kicked in and we decided to launch our ecommerce platform, UFFF.com, and then gradually started opening our retail stores in September of last year. We currently have three in Kuwait and we are hoping to expand aggressively and strategically.

Who are your clients?

–Nader: Our business runs under two pillars. We have our distribution arm, which is basically B2B where we cater to the bigger entities in the market such as Toys R Us, Virgin Megastore, and some local players as well. When it comes to retail, which is more B2C, we cater to pop culture. What is pop culture? Pop culture is basically anything that you have an interest in or you are a fan of. Some way or the other, we will have something for you. Whether it is a notebook, a figure, a bag, a poster, a T shirt, whatever it may be, most likely, you will find something of interest in the store. From the likes of Cinderella, it goes up to the Godfather or even Scarface, for example. We cater to all age groups. When it comes to seasons and whatnot, this is where we target age groups. For example, now it is back to school season, so we will focus more towards the teens and the kids and we will focus more on the back to school related items. But overall, there is no specific age bracket. Even when it comes to income levels, we have products that are as cheap as $3 and they go up to $1,000, all of which are official licensed products for which we are actually leaders here in Kuwait.

You offer a wide range of universes and interests from Funko, Marvel, DC, Disney, Harry Potter, The Simpsons, Friends. How do you curate that?

–Nader: When it comes to buying specifically, we treat ourselves as a customer. It is a huge scope. When we entered into this field, personally, I had no idea what anime or related properties were. I was aware of Dragon Ball Z, for example, because I used to watch it when I was a kid. But it is a vast market. Some of the things you grow with and learn gradually and the rest is just plain intuition. Some are nostalgia and some are retro vibes. Everyone in their 30s is going to like Ninja Turtles from when they were a kid, while the younger generation would like something more recent like Frozen, for example. Our parents would like The Godfather or Jaws. It is basically instinct. At the same time, it is general knowledge. You will know what to buy into. The difficulty is not knowing what to buy into, but actually sourcing the products. This is where we find gaps and issues when it comes to licensing constraints specifically to the Middle East. This is where we do face challenges.

What are some of the products and brands that you offer at UFFF?

In terms of pop culture universes and brands, we carry merchandise from DC Comics, Marvel, Disney, Star Wars, Dragon Ball, Naruto, Demon Slayer, Attack on Titan, Sonic, Stranger Things. It is a huge list.

–Nader: For close to 90% of all the products that are being offered within our platform, we actually are the distributors, whether it is local distribution, Kuwait only, or regional which is Middle East distribution. This is a tactic or strategy that we like to employ given the luxury that we have on Funko because the doors that cater to all these products are relatively the same. We already have a connection with each and every one of them which makes it easier for us to knock on their door, tell them that we have gained access to a new brand, and we are the distributors. Of course, this enhances our portfolio of brands within UFFF and our distribution channel. Funko is our lead brand. Funko as a brand carries over 2,000 official licenses and grows day by day. They release hundreds of new SKUs on a daily basis. Their unique selling point is that they are cheap, affordable, and they are always first to market. Giving an example, Suicide Squad is currently running in theaters. We have had the Suicide Squad figures for around 45 days already on shop floors in the market. The closest competitor that competes with us is always three weeks after us. We have that gain when it comes to first movers which is a big advantage. Besides Funko, we carry anime related figures such as Banpresto which are all coming out of Japan. These are officially licensed figures that cater to anime specifically. They do other properties as well, but their specialty is anime. We see a huge spike in demand when it comes to this specific category. Not only Banpresto, but there are other brands as well which we showcase on the website. They come in a huge variety of different sizes from things that fit into a key chain up to resin statues which are worth over $2,000. We also are very big with homewares. Homewares are basically anything related to the house, whether it is a bottle, a notebook, kitchen storage sets, an apron, cookie jars; whatever it is, we have it. We currently have four brands that we deal with, three of which we are distributors for. Three are based out of the UK and one is based out of France. These fall under the same bracket of not being able to import specific licenses, so each company or brand caters to specific properties. You will have one brand that purely focuses on Disney and Harry Potter and the other will focus on anime, etc. We have posters which we considered a missed opportunity within our market. If it is not IKEA, you cannot go and find posters. We needed to find or create an area within our region or Kuwait specifically where people can go and buy posters of their preference. Socks are huge. We bring in socks from the States called Odd Sox which caters to different properties as well. We offer bags from Sprayground and other brands. We offer lighting as well. In terms of pop culture universes and brands, we carry merchandise from DC Comics, Marvel, Disney, Star Wars, Dragon Ball, Naruto, Demon Slayer, Attack on Titan, Sonic, Stranger Things. It is a huge list.

What is the best-selling product or category or brand universe that you have been seeing?

–Nader: If we look at it on a consistent basis, it would be Harry Potter, Disney, etc. But again, we see huge potential in anime. Anime is where we are putting our investment and time and efforts. It is a market, specifically in Kuwait, that has not been tackled properly. Funko, with the work that we have put in, is present in almost all doors and locations in Kuwait. But, when it comes to figures and anime focus related items, there is a gap in the market and this is where we are headed. From socks to garments to apparel to figures to posters, anything that is anime related we want in on.

What are your expansion plans for the future? Where do you want to see the company in the next three years, the medium term?

–Nader: To be very honest, we have been super aggressive. Given the situation and the position that we are in globally with the pandemic, we have opened three retail doors within a ten-month time span in the three major malls here in Kuwait. Our direction is very evident and simple. We are here to make a statement and the statement is for us to be leaders in the pop culture industry, specifically in Kuwait, and soon in the region. The reason why we did that specific to retail is that we have retail experience, retail background. We have worked in retail before, personally as well, so we had leverage when it comes to retail. But the aim for the time being is to focus on our ecommerce platform where there is a lot of work to be done, a lot of time and dedication to be put in, but at the same time, not forget about retail. This is why for 2022 we are looking into entering both the Saudi and the Qatari market.

Do you anticipate one overtaking the other? Will ecommerce become bigger than your brick and mortar or are you attacking them both as valuable options equally?

–Mohammad: From the retail side, it will not end anytime soon because specifically here in the region, we have no entertainment, nothing else to do but to go to shopping malls. Our stores are an entire experience. It is not just shelves. I anticipate in the future that ecommerce and online platforms will definitely take over. It is happening in the US already. Usually, here we are delayed and 10 years after the US, then it comes to us. That is why we are also focusing on developing an app very soon and we are working on the ecommerce side in the website itself, making it more professional, making it user friendly, etc.

What is your inspiration? What drives you to do what you do?

–Mohammad: I love video games. I like pop culture. That is what made me enter this kind of domain. I like movies, TV shows, etc. I wanted to be a part of that business. This is what actually inspired me to get into that specifically.

–Nader: For us, it was very difficult to go to a one-stop shop and buy everything or look for everything that you have an interest in. You had to go here and there. You were not sure whether it is legit or official or original or not. It is fun at the end of the day. It is a fun place to go to and a fun thing to do. For me, there is a monetary aspect of it as well, definitely. I believe both of us are extremely competitive. We wanted to translate this to the customer going to a place in a well-recognized mall, to have a shopping experience, and to get the product that they like at the true price, what it should be. It is just an add on that we are generating whatever we are generating out of it.

Where did the name UFFF originate?

–Mohammad: Nader’s brother actually came up with it.

–Nader: Mohammad has always had a thing for domains, specifically when it comes to online domains. It needs to be catchy and easily accessible. So, he wanted it to be short and have a meaning to it. It went on for four to six months. We were looking at animal inspiration or magical spells. Then, my brother came up with this name. “Ufff” in Arabic means, “Wow!” or something out of the ordinary.

–Mohammad: The spells we were looking at were all from Harry Potter.

–Nader: For animal names, it was not pure English. We wanted something, for instance, in Latin or Bavarian that then we translated into something else.

For more information, please visit: https://www.ufff.com.

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