British business mogul Richard Branson's Virgin Group is set to take its maiden Mideast bow next year in Sharjah's Mega Mall where its Virgin Store will stock an extensive range of CDs, cassettes, videos, DVDs, multimedia products and mobile phones.

The franchise is one of those being brought to the mall by the Daher Group, which operates 22 international brands in the Middle East, 12 of which are represented in the UAE.

"Other franchises we will be bringing to the mall at our eight stores include Spanish fashion clothing brands Zara, Mango, Massimo Dutti, Pull & Bear and Bershka," said Hassan Daher, whose company Broadway Trading controls the Zara operations in the UAE. The group's investment in the mall will total Dh25.76 million.

"We are already represented in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and were seeking a suitable outlet in Sharjah," he said. The group plans to set up 18 more stores in Dubai next year, and eight to 10 in the UAE in 2002.

The group's investment in the UAE is now Dh55.2 million. The outlay next year is likely to be another Dh55.2 million, followed by Dh36.87 the year after.

The UAE rollout is part of the group's expansion plans throughout the region, Daher said. It has a presence through joint ventures in Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar, and its own company in Lebanon, and now hopes to become established in Oman, Tunisia, Morocco, Jordan and Syria.

Raffi Ayad, vice-president and general manager of Citadel Properties, which is setting up the Dh250 million mall, said 75 per cent of the space available has been leased. "Of 170 stores to set up shop here, 120 have already signed on, and of these, 70 per cent comprise international brands," he said.

Citadel also plans to build a Mega Mall in Dubai costing Dh300 million within two years, he said. The site has been chosen, and construction is likely to begin in mid-2001.