Look: LuLu goes with all-woman staff at new Saudi store

Think far-reaching change is only happening within the confines of the online retail space? Not if you come up a new LuLu Express store in Saudi Arabia.

In a first for the region’s hyper-competitive supermarket category, the store features an all-woman staff line-up, a move that the retailer said was done to mark it reaching 200 stores across its network.

There are micro-enterprises that operate with an all-woman workforce. But these are highly women-centred operations and as such do not require a male presence.

But to take that concept and spread it across an entire supermarket – both in the customer-facing and back-office operations – takes some doing. According to LuLu, it meant months of planning to select the right candidates… and more, important, get them working as a team. Above, Saudi female employees work at the customers service desk at a hypermarket, newly launched by the operator LuLu in the Saudi Arabian port city of Jeddah.

Will this concept now move beyond this store and gain wider acceptance? There is the sheer novelty of the move, but done right, it can work at many levels.

Saudi Arabia could see more retailers with big-box store concepts introducing an all-woman workforce. This will be a win-win for the government as well, intent as it is on getting more women into the workforce.

Saudi Arabia is opening more sectors for its women citizens to participate, including roles in the military.

Located near King Abdul Aziz University, it occupies 37,000 square feet, the new express store. This is, incidentally, the brand's 20th store in Saudi Arabia.

The Group employs around 3,000 Saudi nationals, including 800 women, in its hypermarkets. Above, Saudi female employees serve customers.

A Saudi female employee adds price tags to murchandise at a hypermarket, newly launched by the operator LuLu and run by a team of women, in the Saudi Arabian port city of Jeddah.

Saudi female employees serve customers at a hypermarket, newly launched by the operator LuLu and run by a team of women.

A Saudi female employee checks murchandise.