Dubai is the second most targeted city for international retailers, while the UAE is the world’s second most international retail market, said a report.

Middle East markets continue to attract an increasing number of international retailers and are competing with established global retail centres, according to the 2012 edition of How Global is the Business of Retail? by leading global property adviser CBRE.

CBRE’s annual survey - now in its fifth year - mapped the global footprint of 326 of the world’s top retailers across more than 200 cities to identify trends in global retail expansion at national and local levels.

Attracting 53.8 per cent of all international retail brands surveyed, Dubai narrowly missed out to London, who claimed the outright number one position with 55.5 per cent. Kuwait City (39.5 per cent) was another big mover, rising to eighth position from 12th place last year.

Riyadh also retained key position in the top 20 of most targeted retail destinations, ahead of many established destinations.

The report also revealed that European retailers favour the Middle East when moving outside their home region, accounting for four of their top five target markets. Dubai is the most popular destination with 60.1 per cent having a presence there, followed by Istanbul (48.6 per cent), Kuwait City (44.3 per cent), Riyadh (44.3 per cent) and Jeddah (42.1 per cent).

Nicholas Maclean, managing director of CBRE Middle East, said: “For retailers the UAE remains a very interesting and important market both for those brands currently trading and those aspiring to enter the market.

“The Mena region as a whole is the second most important area for expansion globally for the European and Asia-Pacific retailers. These findings pay tribute to the Middle East’s increasing infrastructure development supporting the retail globalisation trend, especially Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, which are quickly becoming key target destinations."

The report found that retailers expanded into a wide range of markets in 2011, with 74 per cent of the countries in the survey seeing at least one new retailer enter the market last year. The overall global footprint of retailers grew 2.1 per cent, similar to the previous year, demonstrating that retailers continue to grow their cross-border businesses in spite of a challenging consumer environment, according to the report.

New York (43.9 per cent) remains in third position, while Moscow (43.7 per cent) moves up the rankings following a number of new market entrants in 2011 to join Paris (43.7 per cent) in fourth position ahead of Hong Kong (40.5 per cent). The remainder of the top 20 comprises a mix of traditional and emerging markets, providing an indication of how global the international retail business really is, the report said.

When looking at the most targeted countries by global retailers, the UK holds onto first position in the rankings closely followed by the UAE (53.1 per cent) and the United States (50.3 per cent). Spain is in fourth position (47.5 per cent), closely followed by China (47.2 per cent), with France and Germany (46.9 per cent) joint sixth in the rankings. Russia (44.5 per cent), Italy (43 per cent) and Saudi Arabia (41.1 per cent) make up the remainder of the top 10.

North American retailers are by far the most global, with 73 per cent present in all three regions (Europe, Middle East and Africa; Asia Pacific; The Americas), compared with 44 per cent of European retailers and 23 per cent of retailers from Asia Pacific. London is the number one target for American retailers, with 64.7 per cent operating at least one store there, closely followed by Dubai (61.2 per cent) and Kuwait City (49.3 per cent) in third position.

Hamad Buamim, director general, Dubai Chamber, said: “Retail has been one of the fastest growing industries and one of the leading drivers of economic growth in the UAE in recent years as the rising population and urbanisation, expatriate wealth, strong household consumption and modern retail concepts, as well as a thriving tourism sector, continue to provide ideal conditions for growth. The findings of the CBRE report further cement Dubai’s position as a truly international business and leisure destination.”

Peter Walichnowski, CEO of Majid Al Futtaim Properties added: “While I am thrilled to see both Dubai and the UAE top CBRE’s rankings, it does not come as a surprise.”

“The UAE retail market has shown impressive resilience in the face of both global and regional negative headwinds.  Majid Al Futtaim Properties specifically saw 19 per cent revenue growth in 2011, with its UAE operations contributing significantly to that number.  We continue to welcome new and dynamic international brands to our malls and hope to see further growth in 2012.”

Further CBRE research into the number of new store openings in the past year reveals that Europe was the most targeted region at city level accounting for 48 per cent of new entries, followed by the Mena with 22 per cent, and Asia with 14 per cent. North America, Pacific, and Latin America attracted 8 per cent, 6 per cent and 1 per cent respectively.

Almaty (Kazakhstan) was by far the most sought after new city last year with 18 new retailer entries. – TradeArabia News Service