UAE retail giant Lulu opens new hypermarket in Mecca

ADX-listed retail giant Lulu announced on Tuesday that it has opened a new hypermarket in Mecca. With the opening of the new hypermarket, Lulu now has two stores in Mecca and one in Medina.

The new store is in Al Rusayfah, Mecca, located on Abdullah Areef St., Al Rusayfah District. The new Lulu store, which spans a total built-up area of around 200,000 square feet. The new store also boasts a spacious 72-square-metre exclusive dining area.

The store was launched in the presence of Abdullah Hanif, the Secretary General of the Mecca Chamber along with Fahd Abdulrahman Al-Mutaz, Mayor of Russeifa. Ashraf Ali MA, Executive Director of Lulu Group and Shehim Mohammed, Director of Lulu KSA, were also present

Ashraf Ali MA, Executive Director of Lulu, said, "We continue to expand regionally in Saudi Arabia and the new store in Al Rusayfah generates more employment opportunities and strengthens the local economy."

He added, "We will open more than 45 new stores across the GCC within three years," he added. New projects also include three in the holy city of Medina alone amongst others.

"We are undergoing a digital transformation to enhance the customer experience both online and in-store," Ashraf Ali added.

Lulu Group has been steadily expanding its footprint across Saudi Arabia. The company's expansion strategy involves opening numerous hypermarkets, supermarkets, and potentially other retail formats in key cities across the country.

Lulu Retail Holdings, which runs one of the Middle East's biggest hypermarket chains, raised Dh6.32 billion in its initial public offering (IPO) last year.