UAE Retailer Pure Gold Plans Dhs500m Expansion By 2020

UAE-based retailer Pure Gold Group has announced plans to invest Dhs500 million to expand its local operations in the lead up to Dubai Expo 2020.

While Dhs425 million will be invested in Pure Gold Jewellers, the group’s core business, Dhs75 million will be invested in La Moda Exclusives, its luxury sunglasses retail chain.

Pure Gold Jewellers will open an additional 65 stores and the La Moda chain plans 50 new stores in the UAE by 2020.

The company also plans to invest in other fashion retail businesses and is hoping to create employment opportunities for around 1800 to 2000 people.

The Group will hire “qualified multinational retail professionals,” it said.

Firoz Merchant, chairman, Pure Gold Group said, “We plan to invest significant amount of capital in the UAE as the nation now prepares to host Dubai 2020 as we believe the historical event will bring more opportunities for the retail business in the UAE with the influx of tourists and overall economic growth.”

Dubai is expected to attract 25 million visitors during the six-month long Expo 2020 event, according to the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM). The emirate also aims to entice 20 million visitors annually by 2020, up from around 10 million tourists in 2012.

This massive influx of visitors is estimated to provide a significant boost to the UAE’s retail sector, which is already booming.

According to a recent report by CBRE, Dubai currently ranks second globally – following London – on a list of cities with the highest percentage of international retailers.

“The influx of new brands over the past five years has seen Dubai vying with London for top spot, and now with the recent Expo 2020 award the emirate is primed to mount a sustained challenge to London’s recent dominancy,” said Mat Green, head of Research & Consultancy UAE, CBRE Middle East.

“After a relatively quiet period in Dubai’s retail development pipeline, the next three years will see significant expansion of the emirate’s major malls, with Mall of Emirates, Dubai Mall and Ibn Battuta each looking to add additional space to their existing offering.

“We will also see a number of entirely new malls complete by the end of 2017 that will attract a host of new names into the market,” he added.