Pure Beauty

Macy's to open first store outside the US

Published: 22-Apr-2016

Abu Dhabi has been chosen as the location for the new store, due to open in 2018

US department store Macy’s has confirmed it will be expanding into the Middle East with an Abu Dhabi location to open in 2018. The store will be a first for Macy’s outside of its home market.

The store will be part of the United Arab Emirates’ Dhs3.7bn (£700m) Al Maryah Central Retail luxury shopping precinct in Al Maryah Island, currently under development.

Managing conglomerate Al Tayer Group has confirmed the new four storey Macy’s branding will be consistent with its US counterparts while being sensitive to local preferences, selling women and men’s fashion, cosmetics and homeware over 205,000sqft of retail space, with the lower floor dedicated to cosmetics, skin care and fragrance.

While no beauty brands have yet been confirmed, a representative from Al Tayer said that shelves will be mirroring products stocked in the US and will include brands that are new to the Middle East. The new Macy’s will be joined by a Bloomingdale’s, the second for the brand in the region and significantly larger than The Dubai Mall location at 230,000sqft.

Khalid Al Tayer, CEO of Retail at the Al Tayer Group, said: “Both Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s have entrenched themselves as market leaders in department store retailing in the US, and we look forward to delivering the same unrivalled shopping experience to customers in Abu Dhabi.” Al Tayer said he does not expect the two department stores to compete with Macy’s offering a broader lifestyle selection and Bloomingdale’s catering to the luxury market.

A 2.3 million sqft waterfront space, the site for the 400 store Al Maryah Central Retail shopping precinct currently resembles a crane-studded sandlot. But once fully completed and connected to current luxury mall The Galleria by an air bridge, the combined retail and office space is predicted to become the capital’s new central business district.

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