Abu Dhabi's House of Fraser to open in Feb 2013

Retail Arabia International, the franchise owner of House of Fraser Middle East, on Wednesday said the UK department store would open in Abu Dhabi in February 2013. Allied Enterprises, part of the Chalhoub group based in Dubai, has also signed the agreement with House of Fraser to bring its Faces and Sephora beauty brands to the store, a statement said. Nabil Daud, CEO of Retail Arabia, said: "High on quality and service - House of Fraser's first international store will be in the UAE and we at Retail Arabia want the customers within the region to get the same shopping experience as in the stores in UK." The department store will be located in World Trade Center Mall, formerly known as Emporium Central Market, having four floors across 100,000 sq ft. John King, the CEO of House of Fraser, added: "The first international move for House of Fraser is incredibly exciting and we couldn't have had a better partner than Retail Arabia. "They bring in huge retail experience which is in sync with our philosophy. The new store in this creative and thrilling location in Abu Dhabi will feature the latest designs seen in our new stores in Bristol and the recently refurbished Oxford Street." In 2010, Aldar Properties and Retail Arabia International announced they had signed a 10-year lease agreement that will see the development of the region’s first House of Fraser store at Central Market in Abu Dhabi for House of Fraser in Abu Dhabi. House of Fraser will be the anchor store for Emporium, a fashion retail centre that will feature 150 chic boutiques as well as food and beverage outlets over eight floors. House of Fraser has signed a franchise agreement with the aim of expanding into the Middle East market which could see stores also opening in Cairo, Riyadh, Jeddah, Dhahran, Muscat and Doha.