Retail Chalhoub Group in venture with Italian luxury brand Luxury distributor Chalhoub Group has entered into a joint venture with Italian fashion conglomerate OTB Group to expand the brand’s footprint in the Gulf. OTB (which stands for Only The Brave) owns the Diesel, Jil Sander, Maison Margiela, Marni and Viktor&Rolf brands, the Staff International and Brave Kid companies, and holds a stake in the […] June 17, 2024
Retail Private jets to flamingos: the personal shopping lists of the super rich The luxury e-ommerce retailer Pastor & Co, which boasts it can supply clients with everything from Picasso paintings to swans, is aiming to pass $10 million in profits this year, buoyed by strong interest from the rich and famous across the Mena region. The personalised shopping service gets requests to source anything from a rare Fendi […] June 14, 2024
Video length: 04:30 VIDEO Retail Oman’s Amouage outgrows ‘overdeveloped’ GCC market Amouage, the Omani luxury perfume brand, now counts the United States as its biggest revenue generator after three years of continued growth, says Renaud Salmon, the company’s creative officer. Founded in 1983 by the Albusaidi family, Amouage recorded annual growth of 24 percent in 2023, with global retail sales doubling over the last three years. […] June 9, 2024
Food & Drink Mubadala-backed Zamp buys Starbucks brand in Brazil Zamp, a Brazilian restaurant chain backed by Abu Dhabi sovereign fund Mubadala, has signed a deal to buy the Starbucks brand in the South American nation. The operator of Burger King and Popeyes stores in Brazil, Zamp signed an agreement with bankruptcy-hit SouthRock Group to acquire certain assets and rights of the Starbucks brand for 120 […] June 7, 2024
Retail Emaar starts work on $408m Dubai Mall expansion Emaar Properties, Dubai’s largest developer, has commenced work on expanding Dubai Mall at a cost of AED1.5 billion ($408 million). The expansion will include 240 new luxury stores and food and beverage outlets. The contractor is already mobilising on-site, the Dubai-listed developer said in a statement. However, no details were given on when work would […] June 4, 2024
Video length: 06:28 VIDEO Leisure & Hospitality Dubai Parks and Resorts refocuses on the ‘right’ customers Dubai Parks and Resorts’ decision to scrap its Bollywood Parks theme park and replace it with the football-focused Real Madrid World is the latest change it has implemented over the past two years to turn its attractions around. The strategy is part of management’s shift in focus, from satisfying investors to attracting the “right” visitors. […] May 30, 2024
Retail Middle East phone users turn to Chinese budget brands Middle East consumers are embracing budget-friendly Chinese smartphone brands, as global favourites such as iPhone and Samsung suffer a slump in sales. The Middle East’s smartphone market is flourishing, with shipments excluding Turkey reaching more than 12 million units in the first quarter of 2024, a year on year increase of 39 percent, a report […] May 24, 2024
Retail US cigarette giant buys slice of Egyptian rival The American tobacco giant Philip Morris International (PMI) has acquired a minority stake in Egypt’s largest cigarette manufacturer. PMI, which owns brands such as Marlboro, L&M, Merit and Parliament and is the world’s top tobacco company by market value, has bought 14.7 percent of Egypt’s Eastern Company, which also includes cigars and pipe tobacco in […] May 23, 2024
Retail Fire-hit Dubai shopping mall fails to attract auction bids A Dubai shopping mall closed since a fire in 2017 has failed to attract interest from potential buyers after being put up for auction. The Lamcy Plaza mall went on auction earlier this month with a starting bid of AED200 million ($54 million), but received no offers. The five-storey neighbourhood mall, which opened in 1997, […] May 17, 2024
Retail Record footfall at Saudi Arabia’s largest mall operator Cenomi Centers, Saudi Arabia’s biggest mall operator, said on Thursday it had seen record footfall of 31.7 million customer visits in the first quarter of 2024, highlighting the continued strength of the Saudi retail sector. Net profit at the company, which runs 21 malls, was down 53 percent at SAR180.5 million ($48 million) after the […] May 17, 2024
Retail Dubai’s Spinneys plans Saudi entry as profit rises 13% First quarter 2024 net profit at Spinneys rose 13 percent year on year to AED75 million ($20.4 million) as it targets opening its first stores in Saudi Arabia. Revenue grew by 11 percent annually to AED815 million over the period, driven by higher retail revenue, the supermarket operator said in its first quarterly results after listing […] May 14, 2024
Retail Spinneys increases UAE retail offering after high demand Supermarket operator Spinneys has increased the size of its UAE retail offering by 40 percent on the Dubai Financial Market following high investor demand. The retail allocation has been increased from 45 million to 63 million shares, now comprising seven percent of the total shares offered, compared to five percent earlier. However, the total size […] April 30, 2024
Food & Drink Turkey’s Getir exits Europe and US to focus on home market Turkish grocery delivery startup Getir has announced that it is leaving the European and US markets to focus on Turkey. Getir had already exited the French, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese markets in 2023, and will now cease operations in the UK, the US, Germany and the Netherlands. These account for 7 percent of its revenue. […] April 29, 2024
Retail Spinneys Egypt expands with 10 new stores Supermarket operator Spinneys will open 10 new stores in Egypt as part of its expansion drive in the North African country. Four new stores will be opened before June 2024, while six more will be opened in fiscal year 2024/2025, which starts in July, Daily News Egypt reported. Spinneys Egypt operates 27 stores across the […] April 29, 2024
Video length: 04:13 VIDEO Retail Dubai art dealer uses NFTs for fractional art ownership A Dubai tech startup is introducing tokenisation to the art world, after the NFT bubble burst spectacularly. 10101.art aims to make investing in art accessible to all by selling digitised fragments of works by artists including Andy Warhol, Banksy and Picasso, allowing for collective ownership of a masterpiece for as little as $100 a fragment. […] April 26, 2024
Retail Saudi mall operator takes aim at Dubai’s retail crown Saudi Arabia’s leading mall operator is looking to challenge Dubai for the title of the top retail location in the Gulf, with plans to add five more locations by 2027. Bruno Wehbe, chief operating officer of Cenomi Centers, said the Jawharat Riyadh would include new elements such as 3D holographic projections, food halls with live […] April 25, 2024
Retail Spinneys targets market cap of $1.5bn on Dubai listing Supermarket operator Spinneys will have a market capitalisation of between AED5.11 billion to AED5.51 billion ($1.39 billion-$1.5 billion) after its initial public offering (IPO) price range was set between AED 1.42 and AED 1.53 per share. The total offering size is expected to be between AED1.3 billion and AED 1.4 billion, the company said. Spinneys last […] April 23, 2024
Exclusive Retail Spinneys bets big on sales growth for own-label goods Supermarket operator Spinneys is betting big on strong sales of its private-label products as it prepares to go public next month, CEO Sunil Kumar told AGBI on Tuesday. Its private label – or own-brand – ranges cover food, toiletries and household goods. The retailer also has exclusive rights to sell Waitrose-branded products from the UK […] April 17, 2024
Retail Spinneys to offer 900m shares in Dubai IPO Supermarket operator Spinneys will sell 25 percent of its business in an initial public offering (IPO) on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM), according to an intention to float document released on Tuesday. The company’s offering will be open from April 23 to April 29 for retail investors, while institutional investors can subscribe until April 30, according […] April 16, 2024
Retail Sharjah’s Ramadan retail sales peak at nearly $110m Ramadan retail sales in Sharjah hit a new record high of AED400 million ($109 million) in 2024, reinforcing the positive outlook UAE companies had ahead of this year’s holy month. Sales jumped 25 percent year on year during the Sharjah Ramadan Festival 2024, which concluded last Saturday, the UAE state-run Wam news agency reported, quoting […] April 15, 2024
Retail Diriyah Square planned for historic Riyadh district A public space featuring 400 retail outlets and 100 restaurants and cafes is planned for the historic Riyadh district of Diriyah. Diriyah Square will be announced next week at the World Retail Congress in Paris and aims to attract a combination of international retail brands and local artisans. Diriyah Gate Development Authority group CEO Jerry […] April 14, 2024
Retail Boycott of western brands hurts GCC workers, Apparel chief warns Boycotts of western brands by Gulf consumers in protest against the Gaza conflict only hurts local workers in the region, the founder of the fashion and lifestyle retail conglomerate Apparel Group has warned. The company, which is based in the UAE and handles more than 80 brands from the US, Canada, Europe, Asia and Australia […] April 12, 2024
