A Brief History of Vepa Group

In 1962, Istanbul, Vepa has been founded by Vedat Oztarhan, currently the honorary chairman, as a hair, toothbrush and cosmetics firm along with a small shop. Over the period of time, the business has been grown with the partnership of his brother Ozer Oztarhan and he has started to invest in ladies and men's garment industry. After establishing the corporate identity as an apparel brand, Vepa had reached to the certain enlargement to accumulate of adequate capital to have new partnerships with global brands.

In 1988, with Estee Group distributorship agreement, Vepa turned out to be the first firm to import cosmetics in Turkey. As a leader in cosmetics, Vepa contributed to the growth of the industry and initiated further investments of other global brands in Turkey. Such brands like Estee Lauder, Clinique, La Mer, Vepa named to be the largest company in the industry.

In 1989, Vepa has also signed a distributorship and apparel license agreement with Nike for Turkish market. Subsequent to a successful operation and ever-growing active sports business in Turkey, the special agreement has made with Nike to be their strategic retail partner as their key account since Nike decided to open its office in 2001.

In 1997, the distributor agreement has been signed with Shiseido to strengthen our position in the cosmetics market.

In 2004, Vepa was once more the leading firm in cosmetic industry to make an agreement with the first professional make-up brand, M·A·C, to open M·A·C only stores in Turkey. The first store has been opened in Akmerkez Shopping Mall in Istanbul, which was ranked as the fifth store with highest turnover among the international stores.

In the same year, Vepa has also signed a distributorship agreement with New Balance, the second biggest athletic shoe brand in the USA. In December 2005, Vepa was awarded as the "EMEA distributor of the year" because of the new retail store concept. Company owned and operated New Balance retail stores are major strategy for the growth of the operation.

In 2007, the distributorship agreement has been signed with Vince Camuto Group, containing BCBG Max Azria, BCBGirls, Jessica Simpson and Vince Camuto brands. The new multi-brand Women Shoes & Bags stores, CHO, will represent the brands in its unique concept.