Dubai: As it opens its first Lulu hypermarket in Egypt, the Emke Group is planning on major expansion.The company is hoping this will be the first of many such stores in North Africa.
Work is already under way at an additional two locations in Egypt."We have a detailed strategy for the country, the many elements of which we will outline in due course," said Yousuf Ali M. A., Managing Director of Emke Group.
The first outlet in Egypt is due to open within the next 10 days. Its launch ties in with store openings in Kuwait, Oman, Doha, Riyadh and Dibba in Fujairah. The timing works to Emke's advantage given that Ramadan is fast approaching and traditionally people will spend more during this period. "The rollout of new stores is an integral element of our ‘Achieve 100' game plan," said Yousuf Ali.
"The six new stores will raise our tally to 84 and a further five will come on board before the year is over."
It looks likely that the group may well reach the 100 store mark in 2011, which is what ‘Achieve 100' targets. The group also plans to open a shopping mall and hypermarket In India."We have achieved near blanket coverage in the Gulf and extending our presence into India and Egypt will take us into the next phase of growth," said Ali.
This year, the group has committed Dh1.5 million on new store openings. "Due to our strong brand loyalty and well-planned business model we were able to sail through the, so called, turbulent times last year and, in fact, we recorded a 17 per cent growth in our sales turnover to reach $3.5 billion (Dh12.85 billion) in 2009," added Yousu Ali.
"Emirates continues to be our major market and we will be investing a major chunk here. Apart from Dibba, we will be opening our most ambitious project — Mushrif Mall in Abu Dhabi, soon, followed by malls in Al Ain, Ras Al Khaimah and hypermarkets in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, RAK and Baniyas.
"We also intend to expand to the western region of Abu Dhabi soon."
