The poor economic climate has forced French retailer Auchan and local partner RetailCorp to close the Auchan hypermarket in the shopping mall of DragonMart in Dubai, Auchan said.

The decision will however have no impact on Auchan's accounts, the company said in a statement.

Auchan signed in 2008 an agreement with Nakheel, a Dubai World company, to create a joint-venture called Hypercorp to operate across the Gulf. In August 2009, it opened its first Auchan hypermarket in Dubai with Retailcorp, also part of Dubai World.

Auchan is the world's 11th-largest food retailer, with 1,278 stores in 13 countries and 2009 sales of 39.7 billion euros. The company - controlled by the Mulliez family, one of the wealthiest and most secretive in France - competes with listed rivals Carrefour and Casino.-Reuters