Amry Gunawan Owner and Founder of Rabbani Muslim Fashion Business
Rabbani is one of the Muslim fashion business brands that are well-known in Indonesian society, especially Muslim fashion consumers. But who does Rabbani’s owner know? Rabbani’s owner is a husband and wife namely Amry Gunawan and Nia Kurnia.
Starting from the business of selling Islamic books in Bandung Amry Gunawan did start his business starting from the bottom.
The capital of his wife and in-laws became the initial capital Amry Gunawan printed brochures and paid for the books sold. His efforts to sell books by Amry Gunawan went smoothly. Within three months his book business has been able to return capital borrowed from his in-laws.
But the name of the business is not always always smooth. Amry Gunawan’s business ups and downs began in 1994. The increasing number of competitors in the same business made Amry Gunawan’s profits more minimal.
Shortly thereafter, Amry Gunawan decided to quit the business of selling books. Amry and his wife swerved to the hijab or veil business in 1994 armed with his wife’s expertise in sewing and design.
At that time the hijab business opportunity in Bandung was still very large plus there was a ban on headscarves in schools which made Amry think that if there was a ban it would usually make the headscarves more attractive.
The beginning of the hijab business cultivated by Amry and his wife did not go well. At that time Amry had as many as 30 employees in the previous business. The transition of business from selling books to the hijab business has made its employees choose to step down because they are not ready for the transition. But on the same day, Amry got 30 new employees at that time.
Amry Gunawan’s business sense is very appropriate. The demand for veils or headscarves increased very rapidly in Bandung at that time. As a product innovation, in 2000, Amry Gunawan then created a model of instant veil made of shirt material. Later in 2003, Amry released a product of a veil or hijab creation. He got the idea when visiting the Holy Land.
Amry Gunawan keeps on creating new capital-models of veils or hijabs. This innovation makes many consumers really like their products. About 90 percent of the products are headscarves and headscarves, the rest are other products such as robes and other Muslim equipment.
Rabbani’s first outlet stands in the Sekeloa area, Bandung occupying a building measuring 2 × 3 meters in size. Currently Rabbani Store has approximately 82 outlets spread throughout Indonesia with a monthly turnover of hundreds of millions and even billions.