Emaar Malls Names New CEO
Patrick Bouusquet-Chavanne tapped to boost digital efforts.
Patrick Bousquet-Chavanne had two big reasons to celebrate Sunday: France’s victory in the World Cup, and his being named chief executive officer of Emaar Malls, the operator of the Dubai Mall, the world’s largest.
“It is amazing how good things don’t only come in singles,” Bousquet-Chavanne said, hoarse from shouting over France’s 4-2 victory over Croatia — the country’s second World Cup title.
His appointment was revealed Sunday in a filing by Emaar Malls to the Dubai Financial Market. Bousquet-Chavanne will assume his new role in early August and he succeeds Nasser Rafi, who according to reports in the Middle East is leaving to take up another, yet-to-be-revealed position with Emaar.
Bousquet-Chavanne is joining Emaar from Marks & Spencer plc in London, where he has held various roles over the last six years including, most recently, as executive director of customer, marketing and Marksandspencer.com. Prior to joining M&S in 2012, he was co-chairman of Yoostar Entertainment Group in New York and, before that, served as group president of specialty brands and designer fragrances at The Estée Lauder Cos. Inc.
It is Bousquet-Chavanne’s digital experience at M&S, though, that he believes will be most applicable to his new job at Emaar. “It is an amazing company and it is clearly a growth area; Emaar Malls is clearly one of the best mall operators in the world,” Bousquet-Chavanne told WWD in an exclusive interview about what attracted him to the position. “The Middle East is transforming.”