Al-Futtaim Group announces further expansion into Gardens Shopping Mall

Additionally, Al Futtaim will develop new state of the art automotive showrooms for their brands, which will be supported by modern service and parts facilities. Within the new development at the Gardens, Toyota and Lexus will offer full sales, service and parts facilities, as will Honda, Volvo, Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge and Al Futtaim Automall will also have showrooms. It is anticipated that these facilities will open in the first half of 2005.

Omar Al-Futtaim, CEO of the Al-Futtaim Group said, "Our business focus has always been based on listening to our customers and delivering products and facilities that meet their specific requirements. This is one of the key reasons for our continued success in the retail and automotive markets.

By providing comprehensive facilities within the Gardens development, we will not only offer convenient service to customers who will be living there, but will also increase the availability of our world class brands to the ever growing population of Dubai. The growth of residential areas outside of the traditional city centre makes it, in our view, essential to provide these customers with strategically located outlets."

This is the second retailer to officially announce their partnership with The Gardens Shopping Mall after the French hypermarket Géant announced last month they will open a hypermarket in the mall.

Sultan Bin Sulayem, Chairman of The Gardens Shopping Mall said, "The Al-Futtaim Group is one of the regions most established and successful retailers and we are extremely pleased, that they will be joining the list of prestigious retailers who have already signed up at The Gardens Shopping Mall."

Last year saw the Al-Futtaim Group continue to grow and consolidate its clear leadership in both the retail and automotive sectors. Considering the competitiveness of these markets, the Al-Futtaim Group's brands performed exceptionally well and achieved excellent results. Mr. Al-Futtaim said, "The Al-Futtaim Group is totally committed to the development of Dubai, hence our investment in facilities that will benefit the community."

Dubai continues its powerful surge forward, establishing itself in the world arena, and the numerous exciting developments currently in progress mean that the country is set to become a force to be reckoned with in both the tourism market and the world economy.

The Automotive and Retail industries are major segments in the overall economy of Dubai and the demand for high quality products remains consistently high.

The retail expansion will encompass retail outlets for Marks and Spencer (2,800 sqm),Plug ins ElectroniX (1,100 sqm), ACE (2,500 sqm), Toys 'R' Us (2,250 sqm), Al Futtaim Watches and Jewellery (350 sqm) and a new brand (full details to be released soon - 200 sqm).

"Although we already have a solid retail and automotive infrastructure in place, and a network of outlets around Dubai catering to our customer's needs, we want to intensify and enhance this even further with a presence in major new developments. The Gardens development presents us with the perfect opportunity to offer a massive choice of the world's most renowned brands located close to each other to provide choice and convenience", concluded Mr. Al-Futtaim.