Retail chains throw ball into the court of customer

Dubai: As the controversy over the blasphemous cartoons snowballs, retail chains here are leaving it to the customers to decide when to lift the ban against Danish products.

The retail chains are apparently in a quandary as the boycott is not official and are waiting for a signal from the Muslim communities here to lift the ban on the products.

The Emke Group, which had a turnover of $1 billion last year, says the sentiments of the shoppers have not changed despite the apology from Jyllands-Posten, the newspaper which first published the cartoon.

It has 47 outlets in six of the seven Gulf Cooperation Council states, except Saudi Arabia. "We are waiting for the feedback from the customers," said V. Nanadakumar, corporate communications manager of the Group.

He said unless a consensus was reached among the Muslim communities here, the boycott would continue. "It is not we who will decide," he said, saying it all depends on the "mood" of the customer.

Meanwhile, the Carrefour outlet in the Mall of the Emirates is still continuing the boycott along with all its branches in the UAE, and has replaced Danish products with those from Al Marai in Saudi Arabia.

The French chain in the UAE is part of the boycott despite a French newspaper reproducing the cartoons that have hurt the sentiments of millions of Muslims worldwide.