Dubai, March 17th, 2010: Hamleys, the world-famous toy retailer, yesterday )March 16th, 2010) announced the opening of its second store in the UAE located at the Mirdif City Centre. Eight winners from a nationwide drawing competition to “draw your favourite toy”, were invited, along with their classmates to participate in the opening parade, with winners each receiving a AED 500 gift voucher to spend within the store as well as seeing their drawings enlarged and framed as a permanent feature within the store.

The official opening began with a parade of children led by the Hamleys bear and band towards the Hamleys store where they were greeted by live radio DJ and Hamleys staff giving out party bags. Within the new interactive store, a replica of a red double-decker London bus was unveiled, as children explored the 22,000 square foot store which features a chrome race track where kids can test the latest remote control cars, a Girls World Doll house and a Disney cinema, as well as all their favourite quality toys, synonymous with Hamleys Stores. The new store also features a Hamleys Party Room, which offers customized birthday parties complete with a play area featuring a bouncy castle and bicycle track.

Nabil Daud, Managing Director and CEO of Retail Arabia International, partner of Hamleys in the Middle East, said: “Retail Arabia International is thrilled to open a new Hamleys store at the Mirdif City Centre which will serve a large local and expatriate community.  Building on the success of the inaugural store at Dubai Mall which has been

enthusiastically received by children and parents alike, the second Hamleys store has been strategically located to allow us to expand our presence in areas and communities where the Hamleys brand and its extensive array of premium-quality toys are widely anticipated.”

Nabil Daud went on to say,”Children are the focus of our business, we listen to and learn from their comments, for that reason, we have involved as many local and international schools as possible into the opening of Hamleys at Mirdif City Centre.” 

Hamleys is an internationally-recognised toy retailer with ambitious plans to grow the brand further. The flagship store on Regent Street, with over seven floors packed full of toys and games, is considered to be one of London’s major tourist attractions and receives about 5 million visitors a year. The company has developed an international reputation for choice, quality, and innovation.

New outlet in Mirdif City Centre targets fast-growing population of residents within the area

Release Date: 17th March 2010 

Capitalising on a new shopping destination and upcoming developments among Dubai’s fastest growth areas, Jacky’s Electronics, the UAE’s number one multi-brand consumer electronics retailer, has inaugurated its newest outlet at the Mirdif City Centre – the latest commercial development by Majid Al Futtaim Properties.

Covering a floor area of 7000 sq. feet and featuring a full range of home and office appliances, cameras, notebooks, IT, mobile phones, and gaming products, this latest addition to Jacky’s Electronics’ retail outlets throughout the UAE is expected to cater to the electronics, home and office appliance requirements of the population living and working within the area, which according to the Dubai Municipality, is expected to grow to over 530,000 in 2010.

“Mirdif City Centre is strategically located along Dubai’s Eastern Corridor recognised as the fastest growing area in the Emirate. With this prime location, Jacky’s Electronics will be accessible to residents within Mirdif, Al Khawaneej, Rashidiya and other nearby areas who will frequent the mall to shop, dine, and relax,” said Ashish Panjabi, Chief Operating Officer, Jacky’s Group of Companies.

“At the same time, with it’s proximity to the Emirates Highway, the primary trading area of the mall will be further expanded with customers from Sharjah, the Northern Emirates and Dubailand developments.  This should bring in a fairly diverse set of customers to the mall. Our experience with MAF Shopping Mall projects such as Mall of the Emirates, Deira City Centre, Sharjah City Centre and Ajman City Centre have all been positive so far and we anticipate this success to carry over into Mirdif City Centre,” he added.

The new outlet also features ‘Touch & Feel’ concept for mobile phones, smartphones, digital cameras and portable electronics (MP3 players plus GPS devices) displays, allowing customers the freedom to browse through products at leisure, with the comfort of having a counter salesperson to assist them at any time.

Since the mall will be located in a residential area, the Mirdif City Centre outlet will also have a wide range of home appliances from leading brands like LG, Bosch, Siemens, La Germania, Miele, Maytag, Electrolux, Zanussi, Toshiba, Sanyo, Panasonic, Indesit and many more.

The opening of the new outlet came with a series of special promotions and bundled offers such as Nokia phone buy one get one free offer, Notebooks bundled with iPods and many killer price offers during the opening period.  For latest update on the new outlet visit Jacky’s via www.twitter.com/jackysuae on Twitter, as well as on www.facebook.com/jackysuae  on Facebook.