Marks & Spencer and its UAE franchise partner Al-Futtaim will open the largest M&S Foodhall outside the UK at Dubai Festival City in December, the two companies announced on 2 November.
The 15,327 sq ft (1,424 sq m) store will be the first outside Britain to carry the full M&S Food range. It will stock more than 3,500 core M&S products alongside 500 locally sourced lines, supplied by more than 200 UK suppliers and a network of local producers. The range covers fresh produce, protein, grocery, bakery and meal solutions.
The store also brings several firsts for the brand:
Flowers: fresh M&S flowers, sold outside the UK for the first time.
Patisserie: the Middle East's first M&S Patisserie.
Fresh counters: a Fruit Butcher, a sushi counter and a rotisserie chicken station.
Food service: a coffee shop, a pizza oven and hospitality concepts M&S has not used in any store before.
Wassim Arabi, President of Retail at Al-Futtaim, said that by combining M&S's food with Al-Futtaim's local market expertise, "we are setting a new benchmark for food retail in the UAE." Mark Lemming, Managing Director of International at M&S, said bringing a broader range under one roof would give customers "more choice and more reasons to shop with us more often as we continue to grow our presence in the region."
Al-Futtaim has held the M&S franchise in the UAE since 1997. The first Dubai store opened in Deira in 1998, and Dubai Festival City became the largest M&S store outside the UK in 2007. The partners opened the region's first standalone M&S Food store at Dubai Marina Walk in 2017, followed by Springs Souk in 2018. The Dubai Hills Mall food hall was the first in the region with self-checkout. Today, M&S has more than 15 stores across Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Ras Al Khaimah, including The Dubai Mall, Mall of the Emirates, Yas Mall and Dalma Mall.
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