Lulu close to its 100th mall in Mideast

Lulu hypermarket chain officially inaugurated a new shopping mall in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday as part of its UAE investment plan involving spending nearly Dh2.1 billion through 2011.

The Dh1.05 billion Mushrif Mall in the outskirts of the capital is close to the landmark exhibition centre and comprises 210 shops spread over 1.3 square feet. It is Lulu’s 54th mall in the UAE and 94th in the Middle East.

“The mall is part of Lulu’s expansion investment plan in the UAE and the Middle East…we envisage investment at Dh2.1 billion this year,” Yousuf Ali, Lulu general Manager, told reporters after the opening.

He said the mall, one of the biggest shopping centres in the region, took around 30 months to be completed, adding the project and other malls planned in the UAE and other Arab countries would lift the Company’s sales this year by nearly 17 per cent to Dh4.1 billion.

“By the end of 2011, we expect Lull to have around 100 malls in the Middle East, including 55 in the UAE,” he said. “We plan to open another hypermarket in Zayed shopping centre in Abu Dhabi in the next few weeks and one in Ras Al Khaimnah within the expansion plan which covers Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Egypt and other countries of the Miiddle East.”

In comments last week, Ali said the 2008 global fiscal crisis had not affected Lulu business in the UAE and other regional countries. He revealed that Lulu accounts for nearly 32 per cent of the total hypermarket business in the Middle East and 35 per cent in the UAE.

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