Buildmart opens first of 20 retail stores at Festival City

Dubai: Building materials company Danube on Thursday opened the first of 20 Buildmart retail stores planned by 2011.

The first store, in Dubai Festival City, is a relatively small one measuring just 4,500 square feet, but the second one to come onstream in mid-2010 will be significantly larger, a 10,000 square foot store next to Ace Hardware, also in Festival City.

In the next three to four months, four more Buildmart stores will be opened, but there is a total of 10 to 15 stores in the pipeline that will be open by the end of next year, said Rizwan Sajan, Danube.

The 20 locations will be equally divided between small and large stores. Sajan hopes that the smaller stores will generate Dh5 million to Dh10 million per year, with the largest stores generating double this, to Dh10 million to Dh20 million per year.

With a few other furniture stores opening in Dubai, such as Ethan Allen, it appears that the home furnishings sphere in the retail industry is flourishing.

"Lots of these stores like Homes R Us are all opening new outlets so they must be doing well and with the number of houses coming on [to the market] means that expats will require furniture," Sajan said.

Hamad Mubarak Bu Amim, Director General of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, was also present at the opening on Thursday.

Retail value

"I welcome the opening of Danube Buildmart's showroom in Festival City which reflects the investors' continued trust in Dubai's position as a leading economic hub in the region," Bu Amim said

"The new showroom will add value to the retail sector which is one of the most dynamic sectors in the emirate."

Buildmart stores offer chandliers, wallpaper, luxury sanitaryware such as rainshowers, blinds, wooden floors and other home decor accessories.