The next generation of Egyptian founders

Reem Abou El Makarem is the third-generation leader steering Image Home, and the founder of lifestyle brands Dokan Boutique and Aichas Table. She traces her roots to a family textile business launched in the mid‑1980s by her father, Ashraf Abou El Makarem, who founded Carpet City — described by the family as Egypt’s first textiles and home furnishings department store. Within a decade, El Makarem Group expanded to more than 20 Carpet City stores nationwide and later relaunched its retail strategy with Image Home in 2002–2003 as a higher‑end concept.

"My name is Reem Abou El Makarem, and I’m the CEO of Image Home department store and founder of Dokan Boutique and Aichas Table," she says, summarising both her current role and entrepreneurial projects.

From Carpet City to Image Home

Ashraf Abou El Makarem built a national footprint in the 1980s and 1990s, and Reem grew up watching that expansion. Her grandfather had also worked in textiles before joining her father’s business. Internal shareholder disputes later prompted Ashraf to part ways with Carpet City and Makarem Group, and Image Home emerged as the family's next retail incarnation.

Image Home debuted as a "more high‑end retail concept" in the early 2000s. The first Image store in Mohandeseen was a sprawling three‑story outlet offering carpets, bed sheets, towels and furniture. In 2006 — the year Reem graduated from university — the company secured the exclusive Egyptian franchise for Italian furniture brand Natuzzi, a move she identifies as an important turning point for the business.

• Image Home expanded with a second flagship: a 4,000 sqm branch on the Maadi corniche, opened as Reem began working at the company.
• Reem says the company’s product mix is roughly 60/40 local versus imported, and that Image Home does not own factories — a deliberate strategic choice that influenced sourcing and positioning.
• Reem initially considered a career outside the family business, including a possible role at an ad agency to use her advertising and PR degree, before joining Image Home as it scaled its retail footprint.

Reinvention and personal entrepreneurship

Reem frames her trajectory as one of reinvention rather than simple inheritance: "Inheriting a business is one story. Reinventing it is another." Alongside running Image Home, she has launched Dokan Boutique and Aichas Table, signalling a personal drive to diversify the family legacy into new retail formats and consumer experiences.

The family's history of franchising — opening Carpet City franchises in governorates outside Cairo "at a time when the concept of franchising was unheard of" — informs Image Home's appetite for partnerships and exclusive brand rights, as evidenced by the Natuzzi franchise. Reem also highlights the practical choices shaping the group's model, including a reliance on curating imported brands alongside local suppliers rather than integrating manufacturing.

Outlook

As CEO, Reem faces the task of balancing heritage and modern retail demands: maintaining Image Home’s high‑end positioning, growing newer brands like Dokan Boutique and Aichas Table, and navigating an Egyptian retail market that has evolved significantly since her father opened the country’s first dedicated textiles department store. With the Natuzzi franchise and large flagship stores established, the near‑term focus appears to be on consolidating brand partnerships and scaling curated retail experiences that reflect both the family’s legacy and Reem’s generational vision.