The Middle East Embraces Hypermarkets

Big supermarkets are making big investments in the United Arab Emirates.

February 15, 2012

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - The giant supermarket may be on the way out in Europe, but the hypermarket has found new life in the Middle East, The National reports. In this part of the world, large supermarkets are growing along with convenience stores.

This year, Carrefour, Géant and Lulu all will open hypermarkets in this area. "The market has been coming back," said Arif Shaikh, managing director for Géant at Retail Arabia. "The sales have picked up across all segments, hypermarkets and supermarkets."

Sales at the Géant Hypermarket in Dubai jumped 7% to 8%, compared to the last fiscal year, while in Europe, Carrefour has revised its redesign of large stores because of weakening sales.

Shaikh has high hopes for that hypermarkets will have a more robust future in the Middle East. He sees the food business as needing to have great service, fresh produce and a good assortment of products.

"We are not in the business of giving you just one option in one product. We have 20 types of apples from everywhere across the world. My customer wants choice. When I give him apples from Turkey or from Chile, he has choice. It's not about piling up one block of apples and saying this is an apple," said Shaikh.

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