2006
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Al Futtaim Panatech at BurJuman
Al Futtaim Panatech, the sole distributor of Panasonic products in the UAE, has opened its new look 1,500 sqft store in the North Village of the BurJuman Shopping Centre after a major renovation. To mark the inauguration, Al Futtaim Panatech will give customers who make a purchase at the store the chance to win 1m Panasonic Plus Card points via a raffle. The offer closes on November 30.
Cafe chain set for India
The UAE's Abbasi Group is to open three outlets of the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf cafe in Mumbai early next year, reported Gulf News. CFO Jayant Gandhi said further branches will then open in Pune and Bangalore. Gandhi added that the company is also planning to take the brand to Bahrain, Qatar and Oman; the group has franchise rights for the Singaporean chain for several countries in the region.
Ruby Tuesday for Jeddah
The international restaurant chain Ruby Tuesday has opened its first branch in Saudi Arabia on Al Andalus Street in Jeddah. The two storey restaurant, which has parking for about 90 cars, also features an upstairs function room, Ruby's Circle, which can cater for 120 people. Ruby Tuesday now has about 900 branches worldwide.
$100bn luxury goods sector
The regional luxury goods sector will reach a value of $100bn by 2010, of which $8bn will come from high end watches and jewellery, according to Tawhid Abdullah, the MD of the Dubai Gold and Jewellery Group and jewellery retailer Damas. Abdullah predicted that the sales of luxury watches in the UAE will cross $500m in 2006, with around $4bn worth of sales within the next four years.
Oz defends sheep shipments
Live sheep exports from Australia to the Middle East cannot be replaced by meat shipments and transportation conditions are not as bad as activists claim, according to Australia's Minister of Trade Warren Truss and cited by Gulf News. The minister added that negative publicity generated by protests from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals concerning the way sheep are shipped to the Middle East had not affected trade.
DSF reveals schedule
The Dubai Shopping Festival has revealed its calendar of activities for the 45 day long event which will kick off with fireworks and a night-time hot air balloon show on December 20. The core theme of the event will be One World, One Family, One Festival. Over a dozen different festivals will be featured incorporating themes such as world cultures, arts, fashion and sport.
The One is number one in AD
The One, Abu Dhabi Theatre won the Best Cafe of the Year Award at the Time Out Abu Dhabi awards last week. The high-end furniture retailer scooped the prize after being judged on criteria such as food quality, price and ambiance. The One also has stores in Dubai and Sharjah as well as Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar and Sweden.
Gitex Shopper, $22m sales
Spending at Dubai's week long Gitex Shopper reached $22.3m, up $2.7m on last year's figure, reported Gulf News. Organisers put the increase down to a wider product range with TVs, mobile phones and cameras supplementing the usual focus on computers. Visitor numbers were also up 6.5% with over 125,000 people in attendance.
Bahrain City Centre 82% leased
Bahrain City Centre has leased 82% of its 1.5m sqft retail area, according to MAF Shopping Malls. The centre will house around 350 stores plus Bahrain's first Carrefour hypermarket when it opens in Q2 2008. International brands include SAKS 5th Avenue, H&M, Aizone, Debenhams, Centre Point, Home Centre, Paris Gallery, Zara, Mango, and Massimo Dutti.
DSF lays out Dh25m in prizes
Organisers of this year's Dubai Shopping Festival say they are holding the biggest Lexus Mega Raffle so far. Winners of a daily draw will receive two cars, a Lexus ES350 and LX470, and Dhs100,000 cash. Dhs25m worth of cash and prizes is being put up in a bid to draw more shoppers to the city's malls. DSF runs for 45 days starting 20 December.
Pulse to develop Abyaar retail
Kuwait's Abyaar Real Estate Development has appointed Dubai-based consultancy Pulse Holdings to place retail brands in its $1.4bn portfolio of mixed-use Dubai properties. Pulse will start with Abyaar's two serviced apartment towers at Dubai Marina.
High hopes for 103-inch TV sales
Panasonic is hoping to sell around 100 units of its 103-inch plasma screen Viera TV in the UAE, after it was launched this week, Emirates Today reported. The unit is expected to appeal to advertising and marketing companies, as well as real estate firms. The HD TV costs Dh220,000.
Laptop bargains at Gitex
Fierce competition between computer vendors has seen notebook models being offered for under Dhs2,000 at this year's Gitex Shopper in Dubai, according to Gulf News. Fujitsu-Siemens is offering a basic package with its Amilio Pro V2055 for Dhs1,499, while Acer has its Aspire 3682WXCi priced at Dhs1,899, which comes with features including Windows XP home edition.
Retailers line up for DSF
More than 3,000 retailers are expected to sign on for this year's Dubai Shopping Festival which starts next month, Gulf News reported. Registration opened on Monday for the 45-day event, which runs from 20 December 2006 to 2 February 2007.
PS3 to hit Mideast in March
Sony's Playstation3 will hit the Middle East's shops next March according to a company official cited by Gulf News. Colin Thomas, Marketing Manager for Sony Gulf's PlayStation division, was unable to say how many consoles would be made available in the region. The Japanese electronics outfit sold 88,400 units of the PS3 in the first two days of the Japan launch.
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