Lulu Opens Its Biggest Hypermarket in Qatar’s Abu Sidra Mall

Lulu Hypermarket opened its 15th store in the country at Abu Sidra Mall, Qatar

The leading retail chain Lulu Hypermarket yesterday opened its 15th store in the country at Abu Sidra. The new store, which offers a vast retail area of 24,000sqm, has again strengthened Lulu’s presence in the region and is set to transform the retail shopping experience.

The new hypermarket is spread over two levels. Its innovations include smart technology utiliaed to make the shopping experience smoother – from self-checkouts to a new system to ensure no line exceeds three shoppers at any one time.

It also has Qatar’s biggest and most comprehensive zero waste refill station where shoppers can refill reusable containers with dry goods including pasta, grains, and other items; a vegan butchery offering plant-based meat alternatives, and a sushi station with a trained sushi chef freshly made maki rolls and sashimi.

The hypermarket includes The Super Food Pantry – stocking affordable superfood items including acai, quinoa, and goji berries. 

It also consists of a honey station with regional and international honey sold by the weight, the largest and most spacious produce section of any of Lulu’s Qatar stores, and LuLu Cooking School – a multifunction area where local and international chefs will do virtual and in-person cooking sessions.

The inaugural ceremony was held in the presence of Lulu Group Chairman and Managing Director, Yusuffali M A; Shiekh Jassim Mohamed H A Al Thani; Shiekh Hassan bin Khalid H A Al Thani, and other dignitaries, including Ambassador of India to Qatar, H E Dr. Deepak Mittal; Hussain Ibrahim Alfardan; Fardan Fahad Alfardan; Group Executive Director of MBHH, Fathi Ibrahim K Aburish; Group CEO of Commercial Bank of Qatar, Joseph Abraham; Group CEO of Doha Bank, Dr. Seetharaman and Director of Lulu Group International, Dr. Mohamed Althaf.

Lulu Group Chairman and Managing Director Yusuffali M A said: “We are proud that the 215th Lulu has opened in Qatar and has already become a commercial and retail space landmark of sorts. Of course, the excitement over presenting arguably the world’s largest hypermarket is giving us all a great buzz but what we are really focused on is that we should deliver the same level of excellence in customer service and quality to our valued customers in this new hypermarket. That is the Lulu promise we are striving to keep.”

“Abu Sidra Hypermarket, which is the 15th Lulu outlet in Qatar, is a reaffirmation of the Group’s confidence in the vision and energy of Qatar’s leadership and part of a global expansion plan that has already put the Group in the Deloitte Top 150 list of Global Retailers for 2021,” he added.

“The world is well on its way to recovery after a harsh business setback during the pandemic, and robust businesses like ours have to match our capacity and vision with that of the countries we are working in to help the recovery process. Qatar is gearing up for the FIFA World Cup 2022, football’s biggest tournament, and also for the Asian Games 2030 – we are confident of the upward development trajectory of the nation,” Yusuffali said.

Director of Lulu Group International Dr. Mohamed Althaf said the greatly anticipated new store would revolutionise how people shop for everyday essentials in Qatar.

“LuLu Hypermarket, Abu Sidra, reflects the vision of our Chairman and Managing Director for innovation in retail and his commitment to sustainability. It also delivers on our enduring promise to our loyal customers to not only improving the shopping experience but also bring them new products and services at an affordable price,” said Dr. Althaf.

“We are especially proud of innovations such as Qatar’s largest zero-waste refill station, a meat-free service counter, and an on-trend Cookery School. We have also thought about how customers want to shop – from the in-store comfortable seating area to our new self-service check-outs. As a group, we can’t wait for our customers to experience the future of shopping,” he added.

Lulu Hypermarket at Abu Sidra Mall is debatable whether it is the largest store of its kind in the retail sector, it is no doubt the largest and the biggest hypermarket within the Group, with a vast high-quality retail space of 24000 SQM, assuring social distancing and safety as its paramount importance to its shoppers. 

It constitutes the 15th store of Lulu Group in the region, making the Group’s global ordinal status to 215. With 2000 parking spaces, the new store welcomes the shoppers to drive in for a world-class shopping experience.

Lulu is the first retailer to open a vegan hypermarket destination with a service counter dedicated to plant-based products with meat-free options and meat-free butchery.  

Under Zero-waste Refill Center, two aisles in the store are completely dedicated to refills where shoppers can buy refillable containers, use a paper bag or bring their container. Customers can refill the products such as tea, cereals, pasta, and other essentials. This initiative will encourage to reduce and recycle. Major brands such as 24 Matra, Organic Tattva, Agrofino, Somerset, White’s, and Pasta Toscana are available at the refill aisles.

The new hypermarket is spread over two levels and its innovations include:

• Smart technology utilized to make the shopping experience smoother – from self-check outs to a new system to ensure no line exceeds three shoppers at any one time;
• Qatar’s biggest and most comprehensive Zero Waste refill station where shoppers can refill reusable containers with dry goods including pasta, grains and other items;
• A vegan butchery offering plant-based meat alternatives;
• A sushi station with a trained sushi chef freshly made maki rolls and sashimi;
• The Super Food Pantry – stocking affordable superfood items including acai, quinoa and goji berries;
• A honey station with regional and international honey sold by the weight;
• The largest and most spacious produce section of any of LuLu’s Qatar store and
• LuLu Cooking School – a multifunction area where local and international chefs will do virtual and in-person cooking sessions.