Marks & Spencer, a UK retail chain, is set to open its fifth store in the UAE in the Autumn, the company confirmed to Retail News Middle East. The store, which will be operated by Al Futtaim, M&S’ partner in the Middle East, will have floor space of about 56,000 sq ft and will be based in Dubai Festival City.
The store will be M&S’ largest franchise operation and will stock a wider selection of goods than existing franchise stores. “It will sell a big offering with men’s ware, women’s ware, lingerie, home and food, and a coffee shop,” Sue Sadler, a spokesperson for M&S said.
The new Dubai store is part of an ambitious growth plan by Marks & Spencer to increase its presence in foreign markets and in the UK, where the company is halfway through a £570 million (US $1 billion) plan to refurbish its domestic outlets.
“We’ve got a strong franchise operation and we plan to open about 25 to 30 more stores this financial year,” Sadler told RNME. “The other stores that M&S has already announced will be in Latvia, Bulgaria, and the Ukraine.”
Marks & Spencer already has 10 stores in Saudi Arabia, four outlets in the UAE, and single stores in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar.
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