Waitrose expands abroad

Waitrose has signed a deal a deal with Spinneys, a Dubai-based store operator that already sells a range of Waitrose products. The deal means that Waitrose is licensed to open stores in the United Arab Emirates with their own banner name on the shop. Waitrose, part of the John Lewis Partnership, already export products to 30 countries but this is the first time the company will open stores outside Britain.

Waitrose has been chosen Dubai as their first expansion site abroad for the many rich expatriate shoppers, as well as the Arabs that love to try premium western brands. The first store (7,500 m²) will open in April 2008. Two other stores will be built in 2009 with another 18 Spinney’s stores moving into the Waitrose brand over the next two years.

Waitrose is likely to enter more foreign markets in the coming years, according to Richard Hodgson, commercial director Waitrose: "Over the next 10 years, our international business could account for as much as 10% of turnover. We have said that we wanted to double turnover to €10.9 billion over that time, so international could be a €1.09 billion business against €27 million in export deals now."

Spinneys was founded in 1924, in Alexandria, Egypt, by Arthur Rawdon Spinney. One of the leading independent retailers of consumer goods in the Middle East, Spinneys currently operates fully-owned stores in Egypt and Lebanon and through a franchise agreement in the UAE.