Hudson is pleased to announce that its former Head of Retail Operations, Ritianne Grech will now occupy the role of Country General Manager for Malta whilst Tara Agius nee Borg Manché, will assume the role of Head of Retail Operations.
Ritianne and Tara have been instrumental in elevating the local retail landscape and introducing Malta to world-renowned brands including Ted Baker, Kiabi, New Look, River Island, Intersport and more. Ritianne also spearheaded the opening of the first Kiabi store in Cyprus. The brand was warmly welcomed there, so much so, that only short of a year after the first store opened in Larnaca, Cyprus, plans are set in motion to open a second in Paphos.
Ritianne initiated her retail career at the age of 16 when she worked with Hudson’s home-grown concept, Urban Jungle. She later occupied roles in retail management for various high street fashion brands including Arkadia Marketing Limited. In 2011, she re-joined Hudson Group as Brand Manager and was shortly promoted to Retail Operations Manager where she oversaw the day-to-day operations of the stores managed by Hudson in Malta. She was later appointed as a Director of Hudson Malta Sales. As Country Manager she is now responsible for the following areas: Wholesale, Retail, Team sport, and Maintenance.
Tara has worked with Hudson since 2009 occupying various roles within retail including Sales Manager and Brand Operations Manager. She possesses a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Management from the Royal Holloway, University of London (through St. Martin’s Institute in Malta) as well as a Masters in Fashion Retail Management from the University of Arts in London. Tara will handle retail operations for Malta. She will now, together with her team, be managing a total of 27 retail stores in Malta and 7 in Gozo.
When asked about the events leading up to this, newly appointed GM for Malta, Ritianne said; “This was achieved through hard work, persistence, and determination – there is no such thing as luck. You need to learn from mistakes, treat people with respect and never let a pitfall cause you to lose focus of your final goal”.
Head of Retail Operations, Tara added, “It’s important to wake up and love what you do, to treat others with the utmost respect and to lead by example – besides the skills you teach your team, the values and manner through which they are executed is what counts”. Both concur on the hard work of building solid, trustworthy relations as when interacting with global brands, one plays the role of company ambassador. Reputation takes time to build, yet once acquired, amplifies the company’s possibility for further growth, causing an almost ripple effect of success, adds Tara.
A true embodiment of the NIKE philosophy, Tara is an avid athlete. Here she stands with Hudson NIKE brand director, Indrek Heinmets.
Many who have worked with both individuals claim stellar leadership skills, humility, hard work and a great understanding to employees’ needs, as well as a no-nonsense and ‘let’s do this’ approach.
“In recent years, Hudson has strengthened its position as the leading retailer in Malta with a number of new brands and Ritianne together with Tara have been instrumental in managing their operations. Hudson has big plans for further growth, both locally and internationally, and needs great energetic driven individuals such as Tara and Ritianne to motivate and manage teams, to help us get there”, explains Hudson CEO, Chris Muscat.
Hudson is Malta’s leading fashion and sports retailer with brands such as NIKE, Ted Baker, River Island, New Look, Intersport, Urban Jungle, Urban Bratz, Kiabi, Mango, Tommy Hilfiger, Armani Exchange, Mango and Calvin Klein. It also has its own Malta online store, hudsonstore.com, launched in 2020. It is present in Italy through Urban Jungle and BlackBox as well as in Cyprus with Kiabi.
Hudson is also a significant operator in Africa, where it is a distributor and retailer of several leading brands. One of Hudson’s greatest achievements to date is the representation of NIKE for over 30 countries in Africa. Hudson manages this business through offices in Algeria, Morocco and Nigeria.
NIKE flagship store in Rabat, Morocco
In total, Hudson currently manages over 30 stores in Malta, and another 30 stores spread across Africa and Southern Europe including Algeria, Morocco, Nigeria, Cyprus and Italy. In 2022, the group will open an additional 17 new stores in all its territories. This will include two new concepts – one multistore in Gozo which will carry around 30 brands as well as at the Campus hub on the University of Malta, where Hudson will introduce an innovative digital concept.
The group’s head office in Malta, with supporting offices in Italy, Cyprus, Algeria, Morocco and Nigeria.
For more information visit www.hudson.com.mt, or follow Hudson Holdings on LinkedIn.
