In a city transformed by online purchases, four young entrepreneurs saw a chance; What would happen if local fashion brands had a physical space where the client could prove first -hand designs?
In December 2022, that simple idea led Mohannad Saleh, 24, Mustafa El Seraag, 25, Maged Mine, and Youssef El Hawary, 25, to open a small store in the basement of a new Villa de El Cairo. There was no billboard, nor an important campaign, only online brand clothing shelters and a shared belief that local purchases could be better.
An idea became bigger than the basement.
Duration founded an acute inflation time that crosses the gap between international and local brands, In the area He arrived and changed the game.
As Egypt faces growing inflation and changing economic conditions, more consumers resort to local brands. Locally it decreases to this growing trend, offering buyers a space to discover and support Egyptian designers.
According to PWC’s global consumer ideas Survey 2022, 83 percent of Egyptian consumers are willing to pay more for locally manufactured or obtained products, reflecting growing support for local companies. At a time when inflation has reached household budgets.
The annual urban of Egypt inflation It reached 24 percent in January 2025, many consumers have a bone cut in discretionary expenditure. An Ipsos survey 2024, also found that 96 percent of the Egyptians noticed significant price increases during the past year, leading to changes in purchase behavior.
2024 axis, local purchase trends also have a leg shaped Due to political and cultural changes. Following the war against Gaza, boycott campaigns aimed at international brands won impulse throughout the region.
A notable example was Zara, who faced reaction After launching a campaign that, according to many critics, resembled destruction scenes in Gaza. As public support grew to the Palestinian cause, more Egyptians, actively looking for local alternatives, which gives local brands an even stronger support point in the market.
Meanwhile, online purchases remain a main method or purchases; PWC’s voice of the consumption survey 2025 inDGailad That 46 percent of Egyptian consumers buy weekly through their mobile phones.
Locally sacrificed a refreshing alternative, an opportunity for people to get involved with local brands and support their own harvest talent.
“Even international brands were struggling to get stock due to customs, and prices shot up,” says Mohannad Saleh, co -founder of locally. “People began to bow towards the place, but online purchases came with many problems such as returns and dimensions. We wanted to offer something that did not exist virtual, a place where people could come and try things.”
For consumers, buying the place used to follow Instagram pages, make orders in DMS and wait for the best. For small businesses, it meant being largely invisible to anyone who still did not follow them.
When its doors opened locally, people appeared. Then they continued to appear, so much that the founders quickly exceeded the configuration of the basement. In two years, they expanded to four branches: Park Mall in New El Cairo, Citystars in Nasr City, Arkan Plaza in Sheikh Zayed and Courtyard Maadi.
But expanding was not easy.
“Our biggest challenge was that we had no precedents to continue,” explains Saleh. “Everything we did, we were doing for the first time. We got used to operating on a small basement scale until competing with international names in shopping centers, without radio book.”
A movement in manufacturing
At the local level, not only gave exposure to Egyptian brands, but also changed the way they were perceived.
When healing the doses of fashion labels and accessories under the same roof, the store cools to small businesses a physical presence and a child of legitimacy that online platforms could not provide. For customers, he created a unique destination to discover and support the local design, without the friction of in line in line.
Each brand selection is deliberate.
“First, quality control, the product must meet a certain standard,” says Saleh. “Second, Variety: Each branch needs a wide selection for both genres. And the third, the price has to be a value for quality depending on quality.”
Since it opened locally, conceptual stores with a similar model have appeared throughout the country.
“When we started, there was hardly anyone else doing this,” says Saleh. “Now we have many competitors. But it is healthy, it expands the market and pushes us to work even more to sacrifice the best customer experience.”
And according to Saleh, it has helped to remodel how people think about purchases locally completely.
“The number of people who were exposed to local brands because we were crazy. Before, I could only see online designs, I could not feel the quality or verify the size. We cultivate the market in a real center for local brands.”
Looking towards the future, it is not slowing down. An application is being prepared, and world shipping will soon serve customers in all Gulf countries.
“You can also expect two new stores,” Saleh shares, “and for the end of next year, we hope to be international.”
As Egypt’s economy pushes people to look inwards, local purchases are no longer just affordable, it is becoming a way of supporting a broader creative ecosystem. Locally’s story shows how quickly an idea can become a movement.
