Abu Dhabi

Melissa Campanelli is Editor-in-Chief of Total Retail. She is an industry veteran, having covered all aspects of retail, tech, digital, e-commerce, and marketing over the past 20 years. Melissa is also the co-founder of the Women in Retail Leadership Circle.

Macy's and Bloomingdale's will expand their horizons by opening in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2018. Until now, Macy's has remained a domestic retailer while other brands, including Bloomingdale's, have expanded globally. The stores will open in the Al Maryah Central, a new regional shopping center on Al Maryah Island. It's a mixed-use 3.1 million-square-foot development with retail, cafes, restaurants, a cinema, health club, luxury hotel and residential towers.

In the final part of this two-part series on the "20-Plus Things to Watch in Retail” section of JWT's Retail Rebooted report, I discuss 12 of these 20-plus things, including the mobile-powered consumer, shopping hotels and variable pricing. In part one, I discussed 10 trends contained in the report, including 3-D printing, alternative brand currencies and click-and-collect shopping.

Tiffany & Co. has taken a major step to controlling its destiny in the United Arab Emirates by restructuring its joint venture agreement with retailer Damas Jewellery. Damas, based in the U.A.E., is an international jewelry and watch retailer. Under the new partnership agreement between the two companies, all of the operational, merchandising and sales, and marketing management for the five Tiffany & Co. stores in the U.A.E. will be transferred from Damas to Tiffany. Previously, Tiffany sold its merchandise on a wholesale basis to Damas, which operated the Tiffany & Co. stores. 

Lingerie company Frederick’s of Hollywood is expanding internationally with the signing of a licensing agreement covering six countries in the Middle East. The deal with Abu Dhabi-based Emirates Associated Business Group will lead to the opening of at least 10 Frederick’s of Hollywood stores in the next three years.

New York-based Frederick's of Hollywood Group Inc. has entered into an exclusive multiyear licensing agreement with Abu Dhabi-based Emirates Associated Business Group (EABG) to build and operate Frederick's of Hollywood retail stores in the Middle East. The agreement allows EABG to open at least 10 Frederick's of Hollywood retail stores in six Middle Eastern countries during the next three years, with additional store openings based on a mutually agreed upon expansion plan. In addition, a flagship store in Abu Dhabi is scheduled to open in April 2011. SAVE | EMAIL | PRINT | MOST POPULAR | RSS |

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