Elli Junior is making the children’s world a prettier and better place

The Silicon Review

Every product that you use in your child’s life must be made out of the best materials. And this is what UAE-based Elli Junior focuses on. If you are a mom or mom-to-be in UAE, it’s a high possibility that you have heard of Elli Junior, the premium children and baby products retailer. And quite justifiably so. The top kids’ retailer has been the recipient of numerous awards for its work and is now growing in stature in this space. Also, it has doubled its turnover since year 1, now 3 years in a row and been profitable since day 1.

The Rise

Elli Junior’s beautiful story began when its founder and CEO, Elli Kasbi, a mother of two, who comes from a background in Banking and Finance, decided to move to Dubai to do something new and spend more time with her children. But she found no flexible jobs in Dubai. This presented to her an opportunity to do something of her own.

“When I couldn’t find any high-quality, well-designed products for my girls, I realized that there was a gap in the market. It was very hard to find nice baby and kids’ items which were high-quality and had the Scandinavian touch of nice design and focus on sustainability,” explained Elli Kasbi. She decided to address this gap in the market. She contacted her favorite Swedish brands, which included the likes of Elodie Details, and brought their exclusivity to the GCC. In less than four years since its establishment in 2017, Elli Junior is making its presence felt. With it being present in 20 stores across the UAE, the company is today the exclusive distributor of some of the best Swedish brands, including Elodie Details, JaBaDaBaDo and Kids Concept. Elli Junior primarily sells through its e-shop, as well as through selective high end concept stores across gcc.

Elli Junior is a UAE-based retailer of premium children and baby products. The company’s products are sustainably produced and beautifully crafted with a touch of Scandinavian design. The award-winning retailer offers a complete selection of toys, fashion, interior, furniture, cutlery and crockery, and any other accessories a baby may need, Pregnancy and Postnatal must-haves for all moms-to-be. These are the items that make pregnancy happier and the nine months easier. From maternity sweatshirts to the best belly butters, Elli Junior is the top pick for moms and kids all over the UAE.

In January 2020, the company launched its own successful collection of high-quality organic baby towels, playmats, bamboo blankets. Now, they have more in the pipeline! “We want to bring the best for your kids,” added the founder.

It is hard to launch any new brand and gain the customers’ trust when you are just starting out. Elli Junior too encountered some difficulties due to limited resources and a small budget in a highly competitive market. The company, although toiled hard to gain visibility and succeeded. “I handpicked amazing brands, and my focus was always customer service. Experience is always a priority,” said Kasbi. Elli Junior is today known for its phenomenal 58% returning customer rate and happy customers. “Our customer’s satisfaction with our products is highly important for us. Our goal is to bring you high-quality items. At Elli Junior, we always have children welfare at heart; by that, we mean sourcing the best products, material, brands with good ethos, eco-Awareness and social responsibility a natural part of our business.”

Headquartered in Dubai Downtown, Elli Junior is an embodiment of determination and the love for all things kids. The team at Elli Junior and Kasbi has had to work 24/7, at times, to help the company become what it is today. This remarkable determination has kept the company profitable from day one. But there were some naysayers along the way too. “A friend, who is a hardcore business person, told me when I started that there is no future in this and that I am just wasting my time and money,” recollected the Elli Junior founder. But such was the great success of Elli Junior that three years later, the same friend was left wanting to invest in Kasbi’s company. “We offer the best kids products at one place with the best service in nice personal packaging. We want to make the children’s world a prettier and better place,” said Elli Kasbi proudly.

As part of Elli Junior’s commitment to helping parents ‘make life more beautiful for children’, the affordability of the retailer’s selection of products means this ambition is in reach for every family. Elli and her team regularly communicate with customers to find out what they are looking for from Elli Junior and as a result, have turned the company into much more than a distributor, playing an integral role in their customers’ journey as parents and providing an environment in which guidance and advice can be shared. This would not be possible for Elli Junior without its dedicated team who work tirelessly and all recruited for their passion, drive and devotion to eco-awareness and social responsibility, every member of the Elli Junior team is invested in the company, helping Elli to grow her dream as if it were a baby that they all responsible for nurturing and growing. The results of this approach are clear to see.

When we asked Elli Kasbi about what the company aspires to be in the near future, she said, “We want to be the biggest online platform in the GCC for premium products for mom, dad, and child.” The company’s ambition is firmly backed by a dynamic CEO and a dedicated workforce, which is bound to help the company continue on its growth trajectory.

The Leader

Elli Kasbi, Founder and CEO: Born in Iran, Elli immigrated and grew up in Sweden. Elli deeply loves Sweden and worked as a corporate client manager for ten years in one the world’s largest banks there. Driven by the bug of entrepreneurship, she floated Elli Junior as one of the premium brands in UAE. She currently resides in Dubai with her husband and her children.