Retail Dubai’s Landmark Group founder Micky Jagtiani dies Prominent Dubai-based businessman Micky Jagtiani, who founded retail giant Landmark Group, has died. “The Landmark Group today announced that its eminent Founder and Chairman, Mukesh ‘Micky’ Jagtiani, has passed away peacefully, surrounded by his loving family,” the company said in an emailed statement on Friday. Jagtiani, originally from India, started the business in 1973 with […] May 28, 2023
Health PIF-owned company aims to stub out smoking in Saudi Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has launched a company that aims to cut smoking in the kingdom by a quarter by 2032. Badael will develop, manufacture and distribute tobacco-free alternatives which will help an estimated one million people make the switch from smoking, according to a statement. The initiative has the potential to save […] May 26, 2023
Retail Cenomi Centers doubles profit after asset sale Cenomi Centers said on Tuesday that net profit more than doubled in 12 months during the first quarter of 2023 as shopping mall footfall rose to near-record levels and it sold off non-core assets. The Saudi retail company operates 21 assets, with over 4,900 stores in 10 cities. It said profit jumped by 125 percent […] May 23, 2023
Retail Tesla to sell China-made electric vehicles in Canada Tesla is listing China-made Model 3 and Model Y models for sale in Canada, the company’s website showed, confirming the electric car maker has completed its first shipments to North America from its Shanghai factory. Tesla’s website showed both rear-wheel drive Model Y vehicles and the long-range, all-wheel drive version of the Model 3 available […] May 23, 2023
Retail Elon Musk reverses course on Tesla advertising its cars Tesla Inc boss Elon Musk, who has never used traditional advertising to sell cars, said on Tuesday that the automaker would try it and see whether it produced results. Musk said it was “ironic” that as CEO of Tesla, he now owns Twitter. The social media platform is highly dependent on ads and will soon […] May 17, 2023
Retail Turkey helps drives Alfa Romeo’s Q1 growth Italian luxury car manufacturer Alfa Romeo said Turkey was its fastest-growing market. Turkish buyers helped new registations of Alfa Romeos across the Middle East to rise 149 percent year on year in the first quarter of 2023. The Arab country contributed 55 percent of the total growth in the Middle East. Volumes in Turkey quadrupled […] May 16, 2023
Retail Polish retailer Modivo cuts costs and plans layoffs Fashion retailer Modivo, owned by footwear and fashion brand group CCC, plans to cut costs and may lay off staff to boost profitability, its incoming CEO said on Friday, as the wider sector grapples with rising inflation and energy prices. “Improving profitability also means to work on efficiency, so we will try to rebuild this […] May 14, 2023
Retail Amazon offers shoppers $10 to pick up purchases Amazon.com is offering customers $10 to pick up a purchase rather than have it shipped to a home address, as the e-commerce giant joins other retailers in racing to slash costs for home delivery and returns amid slack consumer demand. Over the past few days Amazon has emailed an unknown number of Prime subscribers in […] May 9, 2023
Retail Saudi firms in talks to create retail powerhouse Talks are under way for a potential merger between Saudi Arabia’s largest franchise retailer and shopping mall developer and operator. Cenomi Retail, formerly known as Fawaz Abdulaziz Alhokair Company, said in a filing to the Saudi Stock Exchange that it is in discussions with Cenomi Centers, also known as Arabian Centres Company, to create a […] May 8, 2023
Retail Middle East shoppers find some ‘gaps on the shelves’ A “salad crisis” affecting British supermarkets hit headlines earlier this year, but shoppers across Europe and the Middle East seeking some basic groceries – from pasta to toothpaste – are also finding gaps on the shelves. Top industry executives, consultants and analysts told Reuters that supermarkets are struggling to predict demand as the receding experience […] May 4, 2023
Retail Electronics retailer eXtra pulls plug on Egypt plans United Electronics, the Saudi company behind tech retailer eXtra, has abandoned its plan to expand into Egypt as analysts predict that soaring inflation in the North African country will dampen consumer spending. The company said in a filing to the Saudi Stock Exchange on Monday that the decision followed a feasibility review, but did not […] May 1, 2023
Food & Drink Relief for online shoppers as food price inflation slows The price of consumer staples bought online increased in 2022, but shoppers in the UAE are now beginning to see costs plateau. The most significant rise was in the price of tea, which increased by almost 26 percent year-on-year in Q1 2023, according to the UAE Ecommerce Consumer Price Index compiled by consultancy Pattern. The […] April 26, 2023
Retail Alabbar-founded Noon cuts 10% of jobs to lower costs E-commerce platform Noon.com has cut about 10 percent of its roughly 3,400-strong workforce to boost efficiency and lower costs. The layoffs at the Dubai-based firm include roles in marketing, advertising and other departments, the company founder Mohamed Alabbar told Bloomberg. Noon has been cutting costs and reducing headcount for the past year and a half, Alabbar added. […] April 19, 2023
Tech Mena IT spending to lag behind global average IT spending across the Middle East and North Africa is forecast to drop below the global average this year as rising inflation dents consumer spending. While global growth in IT spending is expected to hit 5.5 percent by the end of this year, predictions for the Mena region show just a 2 percent increase, according […] April 17, 2023
Retail Beware ‘false economy’ of discounting in Dubai Offering discounts in a bid to maintain high sales in a competitive Dubai market, at a time when operating costs continue to rise, will have a negative impact in the long term, the head of one of the emirate’s largest business groups has warned. The latest Dubai Purchase Managers Index (PMI) for March found that […] April 14, 2023
Retail Pizza firm DP Eurasia evaluates Russia presence DP Eurasia, which runs the Domino’s Pizza brand in Turkey and Russia, on Wednesday said it was still weighing options for its Russian business after reporting a rise in its annual core profit as it hiked prices to offset high inflation. The company said it continued to evaluate its presence in Russia, including a possible […] April 13, 2023
e& takes $400m majority stake in Careem The former Emirates Telecommunications Group Company, e&, has acquired a $400 million majority stake in Careem. The super-app, which is owned by Uber, offers multiple services such as ordering taxis, grocery shopping and mobile payments. e& has taken a 50.03 percent share of the company, which has operations in over 80 cities, covering nine countries […] April 10, 2023
Retail Tesla begins pre-orders for ‘pricier’ Model Y in Turkey Tesla has started taking pre-orders of in Turkey for its Model Y electric car, with deliveries slated to begin in May. The US company will sell three versions of the Model Y in the country, which will be sourced from Tesla’s plant in Berlin, Germany, Daily Sabah newspaper reported. The standard range version will be […] April 5, 2023
Retail McDonald’s temporarily shuts US offices and prepares layoff notices Burger chain McDonald’s Corp is temporarily closing its US offices this week as it prepares to inform corporate employees about its layoffs as part of a broader company restructuring, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday. In an internal email last week to US employees and some international staff, McDonald’s asked them to work from home from […] April 3, 2023
Retail Alibaba considers yielding control of some businesses in overhaul Alibaba Group said on Thursday it will look to monetise non-core assets and consider giving up control of some businesses, as the Chinese tech conglomerate reinvents itself after a regulatory crackdown that wiped 70 percent off its shares. Group CEO Daniel Zhang said the company’s breakup into separate businesses will allow its units to become more […] March 31, 2023
Retail Walmart to lay off hundreds of US workers in 5 distribution centres Hundreds of workers at five US Walmart facilities that fulfill e-commerce orders are being asked to find jobs within 90 days at other company locations, a spokesperson confirmed to Reuters. About 200 workers at Pedricktown, New Jersey, and hundreds of others at Fort Worth, Texas; Chino, California; Davenport, Florida; and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania were let go […] March 24, 2023
Retail Amazon bucks global tech slowdown with UAE expansion Amazon has strengthened its commitment to the UAE with the opening of a new fulfilment centre – in the same week the e-commerce giant announced 9,000 jobs are to go across its global network. This follows a previous announcement in January to cut 18,000 roles within the company. The latest redundancies will fall mostly in […] March 22, 2023
