VALUE TO TÜRKİYE THROUGH DEMSA GROUP’S RETAIL AND HOTELIER INVESTMENT

DEMET SABANCI CETINDOGAN

Business woman Demet Sabanci Cetindogan talks about retail giant Demsa Group and Onkim’s vision in health sector

In which fields do you operate as Demsa Group?

Our main business field is retail. We have women’s, men’s and children’s clothing, accessories as well as home decoration and cosmetics as a part of our retail business. We also operate in various other fields such as health, tourism, construction, art and shipping.

Which brands Demsa represents in the retail sector? Do you have any plans to invest in new brands?

We can say that the retail sector is our flagship business. We represent a significant part of the existing retail capacity in Türkiye, especially in the fashion and luxury segments. Demsa Group, which is the representative of many world-renowned brands in Türkiye, has brands such as Brandroom Longchamp, Ted Baker and D’Maison with brands such as Villeroy Boch, Rosenthal, Missoni Home, Lladro under the umbrella of its HOME category. With the brandroom.com. tr online shopping site, Demsa Group continues to increase its e-commerce market share in luxury retail day by day. We see that Türkiye, and especially Istanbul, has a very important potential in this field. Reflecting its experience and vision in the retail sector to the tourism and construction sectors, Demsa Group’s investments in this field include Pera Palace Hotel, The St. Regis Istanbul and the boutique real estate project Kandilli Konaklari.

You have made considerable investment in the health sector. What made you to set up Onkim?

Unfortunately, I lost my father, Haci Sabanci, to lung cancer. Shortly after this loss, I learned that the stem cell would be a cure for many diseases in the future. It intrigued me. I closely followed the studies on stem cells and by establishing Onkim in 2006, we made a very valuable investment for Türkiye in the field of stem cell research. We always look for a “social output” in our work. We also aim to provide new and longterm benefits. Onkim is our most valuable investment in this respect. In a way, it represents Türkiyes vision for the future. Health is an indicator of the civilization level of a country. For this reason, we have never avoided such an important investment. We did not think about whether Türkiye is the right market to do a business related to stem cell technologies. We thought that Türkiye and Turkish people needed such a service, and we focused on social benefits, not financial risks. Among the studies conducted at Onkim, stem cells umbilical cord blood were used in the treatment of patients with thalassemia, neuroblastoma and leukaemia. We have started clinical research studies in many fields. For example, nyctalopia, also called night blindness, is a disease that first narrows the field of vision of the person, and eventually leads to the loss of vision, after colours and light. We have made serious progress with stem cell application in this disease. The treatment results of many of our patients with night blindness were extremely successful. I believe that the treatment of many diseases will be possible in the coming years with stem cells obtained from umbilical cord in various ongoing projects taking place around the world.

We are truly happy to have done the right thing. We must raise healthy generations for a healthy Türkiye. While doing this, we must use technology correctly, as in everything else.

At first, we had a hard time even understanding the job we were doing. Today, Onkim is on its way to becoming a health centre of regional importance. The energy behind this initiative was not just the market being empty. It was our belief that the time had come for Türkiye to have such a centre.

“We see that Türkiye, and especially Istanbul, has a very important potential in luxury retail field”

Could you tell more about Onkim? In which countries does the centre operate?

As you mentioned, under the roof of Onkim, we perform stem cell storage and banking operations from many different tissues. If there is any disease in the family during the storage process, these products are delivered to the relevant application centre in a controlled and healthy way, in line with the request of the physicians. Since the stored cellular products are already stored after getting them directly from the patients themselves, they have the right to use these products whenever they want. Therefore, we are obliged to keep these products as long as they have a request for storage. Without their knowledge and approval, stem cells cannot be used, transferred or destroyed in any way. If people want to stop keeping these stem cells, they have the right to destroy them or make them available to other people if there is tissue compatibility. In this way, they touch the lives of many different people. Of course, all these processes are carried out by documenting and mutually signing in accordance with the Onkim Quality System.

Studies on stem cells by scientists have gained momentum in recent years and are seen as a hope for the treatment of many diseases in the future. While stem cell treatments had been limited until a short time ago, stem cells have been used in different diseases for clinical trial purposes in recent years.

Studies have shown that especially are rich in stem cells. He proved that deciduous teeth stem cells have the potential to transform into different tissues in the body such as bone, muscle and cartilage. Studies have shown that especially deciduous teeth are rich in stem cells. It has been proven that deciduous teeth stem cells have the potential to transform into different tissues in the body such as bone, muscle and cartilage. One of the most important features of dental stem cells is their potential to transform into nerve cells. Especially with the increase in diseases such as Alzheimer’s and dementia in later ages, the importance of dental stem cells, which have the ability to differentiate into nerve cells, increases. It is predicted that in the future, these stem cells will not only transform into different tissues, but also stem cell therapy will be a part of dentistry as well. For example, it will be possible to create new tooth structures to replace the lost teeth from the stored tooth stem cells thanks to dental banking. To put it briefly, stem cells, which are considered as spare parts of our body, are vital structures in the human body. We are trying to do everything we can to make those hearts beat and those brains to think. We work with senior scientists. We have very big goals. It is an investment that targets the future rather than today, and in this respect its real value will be better understood in the future. As long as I live, I will try to fulfil my responsibility towards humankind and life with this big investment.

“WE MUST RAISE HEALTHY GENERATIONS FOR A HEALTHY TÜRKIYE. WHILE DOING THIS, WE MUST USE TECHNOLOGY CORRECTLY, AS IN EVERYTHING ELSE.”

Pera Palas, one of Türkiye’s most iconic hotels, is a part of Demsa Group. There are even tourists, who come just to stay at Pera Palas. How did you manage to preserve the hotel’s authenticity? Do you plan to make other investments in the tourism sector?

There are some places on earth that not only witness the history they existed in but also become history itself. Pera Palace Hotel is undoubtedly among those places. The story of Pera Palace Hotel, which was opened in Beyoglu district in the heart of Istanbul towards the end of the 19th century, is also a part of history itself. When the world famous Orient Express train started its Paris-Istanbul line in 1888, there was no luxury hotel with high standards where the passengers on the train could stay in Istanbul. Started to be built in 1892, Pera Palace Hotel welcomed its first guests with an opening ball held in 1895. This ritual has never changed, we are striving to keep the historical place of Istanbul alive and to meet today’s expectations without losing any of its splendour. Pera Palace Hotel’s Room 101 is transformed into a museum on the 100th anniversary of the birth of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, where his personal belongings are also exhibited. Thus, Pera Palace Hotel has added another gem to its precious existence as a museum-hotel. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Republic of Türkiye, Ismet Inonu, Celal Bayar, Piere Loti, King Edward VIII, Austro-Hungari-an Emperor Franz Joseph, Agatha Christie, Greta Garbo, Sir Alfred Hitchcock, Pierre Loti, Jacqueline Kennedy, Ernest Hemingway and Mata Hari were among the guests of Pera Palace Hotel. We make it possible for our guests to stay in rooms named after these historical figures. We offer a long and delicious journey from the traditional English tea time, which entered the Michelin guide, to the French-style Patisserie de Pera in our Domed Hall. As soon as you enter the door, we aim to make you travel to the past through a time machine, and we continue this with great responsibility. Another brand that we think contributes to the promotion of Türkiye and to intercultural communication is Hiref Design, a brand that our overseas guests like very much. The main mission Hiref believes in is to emphasise the cultural and historical richness of Anatolia and to present Turkish crafts which have sunk into oblivion, to the world with a strong brand value and a contemporary design approach. One of the innovations that Hiref has brought since its establishment is that each of its designs has historical and cultural stories. The story of each design is presented with a special stylish narrative card. Hiref’s motto is “Design Your Culture”. In 2008, Hiref was chosen as a graduation thesis topic by Georgetown University’s MBA students in the US due to its successful growth and branding activities. In 2011, the brand became the subject of a project in a study called “Creating Brand Value” by Harvard Business School MBA students. Aiming to grow abroad, Hiref has focused especially on the London, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and the US markets. For now, we continue our efforts to move our existing subsidiaries to better and more beautiful ones.

Pera Palace İstanbul

Pera Palace İstanbul

St Regis İstanbul

St Regis İstanbul