Style bastion coming to Dubai

The American department store Bloomingdale's is to open in the Dubai Mall, its first location outside the United States.

The US fashion house is coming to Dubai Mall.
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DUBAI // The American department store Bloomingdale's is to open in the Dubai Mall, its first location outside the United States. Bloomingdale's, which opened its first store in Manhattan in 1872, is a New York fashion landmark that has been name-checked in dozens of films and television programmes, such as Sex and the City. It has 40 shops across the US. The Dubai branch will consist of two stores in the Dubai Mall, both due to open in 2010.

"Our Dubai store will feature the events, theatre of retailing, visual excitement and outstanding contemporary luxury brands that customers associate with Bloomingdale's," said Michael Gould, the company's chairman. "The Dubai store will allow us to serve existing customers who are frequent world travellers, and a prominent location in the Dubai Mall will help introduce Bloomingdale's to new shoppers and allow us to build new international customer relationships."

The UAE branches will be managed and run under licence by Al Tayer Group. "We are delighted to bring an iconic brand such as Bloomingdale's to the UAE," said the group's chairman, Obaid al Tayer. "We are confident of introducing and operating Bloomingdale's in the UAE to the level of century-long success that it has enjoyed in its home market." Terry Lundgren, the chairman of Bloomingdale's parent company, Macy's, said Dubai's reputation as a shopping paradise meant it was a good location for the store's first overseas branch.

"Dubai offers a unique opportunity for Bloomingdale's," he said. "It is a fast-growing, affluent marketplace that has emerged as an international destination for tourism, sporting events and business. "This will be our company's first overseas location, and we expect to learn a great deal about how our brands translate internationally". gmcclenaghan@thenational.ae