DeFacto (retailer)

DeFacto is a Turkish retail clothing company founded in 2003, the second-largest in Turkey, with annual sales expected to be 11 billion Turkish lira in 2025 (about US$340 million as of May 2024)

The official company name is DeFacto Perakende Ticaret A.Ş. based in the Halkalı Merkez neighborhood of Küçükçekmece district, Istanbul.

History


DeFacto was founded in 2003 by Zeki Cemal Özen, the owner of Ozan Tekstil. The CEO is İhsan Ateş, who started his career at LC Waikiki. The company introduced four distinct brands – Captain Hook, DeFacto, Chale, and Sweater – to customers through 350 retail outlets in Merter. Ozon Clothing leveraged its expertise in production, while outsourcing marketing, retail, sales, and design. Other brands were phased out to concentrate solely on the DeFacto brand of men's, women's, and children's wear, for the first two years without its own retail stores. İhsan Ateş is the CEO.

In 2003, the company's market data showed that only 6% of customers were willing to spend for than 50 Turkish lira for shirts. DeFacto saw this as an opportunity and using Ozon Giyim's production capabilities, the brand launched both its products and retail store formats. It defines its market niche as "Mediterranean comfort".

The company opened its first store outside Turkey in Kazakhstan in 2013.

From 2010 to 2015, DeFacto has an average annual growth rate of 49 percent with annual sales of 1.18 billion Turkish lira (TRY) in 2014 (about US$540 million) and 146 million TRY in operating profit (about US$71 million) and 5,932 employees. At the time it had 20 stores in 4 countries outside Türkiye: 12 in Kazakhstan, 5 in Iraq, 2 in Egypt and 1 in Belarus. and aimed to close 2015 with sales of 1.631 billion TRY (about US$600 million). It opened a design office in Barcelona. By 2015 e-commerce contributed 4% of sales, committing DeFacto to an omnichannel approach.

In 2015 DeFacto opened its first store in Morocco, in Marrakesh and the following year had opened 5 stores in that country.

As of September 2015, DeFacto had 277 stores in about 63 cities in Turkey and 50 abroad, with the company's Sustainability Report indicating presence in at least nine countries.

In 2016, DeFacto acquired 24 C&A-branded stores of the company C&A Moda Ticaret AŞ. As of that year, the stores with the highest sales were the ones in Baghdad, Federal Iraq.

In 2018, 30% of the company shares were offered to the public. The same year, DeFacto opened stores in Pakistan and Malaysia, bringing the total number of countries to 24 including Turkey, and 125 stores outside Turkey.

In 2023, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) invested US$59 million into Defacto. Franklin Templeton is another investor.

Geographic presence
As of 2024 DeFacto stores operate in Turkey and 33 other countries (launch year in the country in parentheses/brackets if known):
 * Central Asia (5): Kazakhstan (2013), Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan (2021)
 * Middle East (6): Iraq (Federal and Kurdish autonomous region ), Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar
 * North Africa (4): Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco (2015)
 * Europe (12): Albania, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus (Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus), Georgia, Germany, Kosovo, Moldova, Russia, Serbia, Ukraine (2021)
 * South Asia (2): Afghanistan, Pakistan
 * Subsaharan Africa (4): DPR Congo, Mauritius, Somalia, Tanzania

As of the end of 2017 DeFacto had 324 stores in Turkey and 123 stores in 21 other countries, including Malaysia   Saudi Arabia   and Tunisia  which as of 2024 are no longer operating. A store in Bulgaria at Serdika Center Sofia (Сердика Център) has since also opened and closed.

As of 2024 DeFacto has about 500 stores and 13,000 employees.

Brands
(Sub-)brands include:
 * DeFacto Baby
 * DeFacto Kids
 * DeFacto Fit - activewear and fitness apparel
 * DeFacto Coool - young, trendy, casual, affordable
 * DeFacto Life - lifestyle-oriented, broader demographic: comfort, everyday wear
 * DeFacto Modest - provides more coverage of the body, thus aligning with certain cultural or religious dress codes while still aiming to be stylish and modern
 * DeFacto Plus - larger sizes
 * DeFacto Studio - more refined and sophisticated, high-quality, elegant, contemporary, for both professional and social settings