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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Saudi Arabia is opening more sectors for its women citizens to participate, including roles in the military.
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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.
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The Group employs around 3,000 Saudi nationals, including 800 women, in its hypermarkets. Above, Saudi female employees serve customers.
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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.
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Saudi female employees serve customers at a hypermarket, newly launched by the operator LuLu and run by a team of women.
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A Saudi female employee checks murchandise.
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