Dubai Festival City store to open in December with 3,500 products, a patisserie and fresh flowers.
Dubai: Al-Futtaim will open the largest Marks & Spencer (M&S) food hall outside the UK at Dubai Festival City in December, the company announced on November 2.
Spanning 15,327 sq ft (1,424 sq m), the new store will offer the full M&S Food range for the first time outside Britain, allowing shoppers to find everything from fresh produce and groceries to bakery items and prepared meals under one roof.
The food hall will stock more than 3,500 core M&S products, alongside 500 locally sourced lines. More than 200 UK suppliers and a network of local producers will provide fresh produce, meat and other proteins, groceries, bakery products and ready-to-eat meal solutions.
What is new at the Dubai Festival City store?
The store will introduce several new concepts to the region. Fresh M&S flowers will make their international debut, while the Middle East will get its first M&S Patisserie.
Other features will include a Fruit Butcher, sushi counter, rotisserie chicken station, coffee shop and pizza oven. Al-Futtaim has also confirmed hospitality concepts that are new to M&S.
M&S food halls are known for their premium own-brand ready meals, bakery products and chilled food. British favourites such as crumpets, scones and Colin the Caterpillar sweets have helped build the brand’s following among shoppers.
The new Dubai format will expand on this offering by combining packaged products with fresh-food counters, prepared dishes and made-to-order options.
The food hall is designed to bring together greater choice, fresh food, convenience and meal solutions, making M&S Food’s quality and value proposition relevant to a wider range of everyday shopping needs.
Setting a new benchmark
Wassim Arabi, President of Retail at Al-Futtaim, said the store would set a new benchmark for food retail in the UAE.
“The launch of this new Foodhall is an important milestone in that journey, bringing an exciting, elevated food shopping experience to our customers. By combining M&S’s exceptional food and trusted quality with Al-Futtaim’s local market expertise and operational capabilities, we are setting a new benchmark for food retail in the UAE.”
Mark Lemming, Managing Director of International at M&S, said the opening would introduce more UAE shoppers to the brand’s food range, quality and value.
“By bringing a broader range of M&S Food together under one roof, we can become a bigger part of our customers’ everyday lives, giving them more choice and more reasons to shop with us more often as we continue to grow our presence in the region,” Lemming said.
A partnership spanning nearly three decades
Al-Futtaim secured the M&S franchise in 1997, with the first Dubai store opening in Deira in 1998. The partnership has since expanded across the region.
The retailer’s food business has grown in stages. In 2007, M&S opened its largest store outside the UK at Dubai Festival City Mall. A refurbishment in 2017 introduced an M&S Café, the brand’s first table-service dining concept in the region.
The Middle East’s first standalone M&S Food store opened at Dubai Marina Walk in 2017, followed by another at Springs Souk in 2018.
M&S has also adapted its offering to local preferences. The brand introduced its first modest fashion collection, while its own-brand halal ready meals are sold through Al-Futtaim in Dubai.
Dubai Hills Mall’s M&S food hall also became the first in the region to introduce self-checkout points.
