MUM’S TUCK SHOP!

Leading upmarket British food retailer Waitrose, which opened its first outlet in Bahrain at The Lagoon in Amwaj Island, is preparing to launch its second venture in a new BD4.2 million mall opposite St Christopher’s School in Saar.

The first outlets in the 3,375 sq/m Nakheel Centre situated adjacent to the popular junior and infants’ school campus have just opened.

Securing Waitrose’s signature as the ‘anchor tenant’ is regarded as a major coup for the project, retail business insiders suggest. With scores of families doing their daily rounds back and forth from school, the complex will provide an ideal location to pick up groceries as well as a meeting place in one of the cafes for parents.

The owner of the complex is AMAK Property & Development. It has appointed Dara Innovation Real Estate Company to lease and manage it.

The centre is a mixed-use commercial development in the heart of the growing Saar area which the developers say has been designed to ‘reflect the old Bahraini architectural feel with a moderate modern touch’.

The three-storey development will boast 25 retail outlets and half a dozen offices. The Nakheel Centre is rated as a ‘neighbourhood development’ and will mostly cater for the residents of Saar, Budaiya, Saraya and surrounding areas.

But the owners also believe its closeness to a highway exit will attract Saudi residents to visit before continuing their journey on to the Causeway.

The key component, however, is its prime location opposite St Christopher’s School. There are more than 170 members of staff and the Saar site attracts the parents of around 1,100 pupils on the daily school trek.

Shortly after work started on site, a company spokesman told GulfWeekly: “Due to our location next to St Christopher’s we have carefully selected tenants based on our understanding of what is needed by the local community and the requirements of children, parents and teachers.

“A supermarket will provide parents with a useful place to pick up groceries whilst a variety of food and beverage outlets will offer everything from a coffee to breakfast, lunch and dinner.”

The company spokesman continued: “The centre will also be a one-stop-shop for people to make use of all the services available. It will allow them to pick up essentials from the pharmacy, a bunch of flowers or box of chocolates for a loved one, to hiring a car, doing their dry cleaning, or treating themselves to a well-deserved manicure or beauty treatment.”

Work has progressed since then with shops starting to flourish and others in the advanced ‘fitting out’ stage. The official opening ceremony is likely to take place early next year, a spokesman said this week. “With our anchor tenants we believe that the Nakheel Centre will prove a success and be a benchmark project,” she added.

Cakes Avenue and Threads & Motifs have recently opened their doors and Kono Pizza, Nails and more, Bubble Nails, Starbucks, Boots Pharmacy and Casa Dor Interior Design will follow shortly. A spokesman added that the supermarket should be open in ‘a matter of weeks’.

Managed by Dubai-based Fine Fare Food Market (FFFM), the Waitrose store on Amwaj was only the third outside of the UK with two stores already operating in the UAE. FFFM manage the store in Bahrain through its local operating company Supa Save Bahrain.

David Morton, Waitrose’s director of international development, said shortly after its launch the company would like to open ‘more stores’ and it was working to find new locations.

The kingdom’s first Waitrose store has faced stiff competition from an Alosra supermarket, part of the well-established BMMI group, which opened in February shortly afterwards in a prime location at the entrance to the man-made island community, and as a result attracts a large amount of passing trade from commuters.

Waitrose, however, remains bullish about its fortunes and says it continues to attract shoppers from Amwaj and across Bahrain to the Lagoon, a growing ‘eating out’ destination.

A spokesman added: “We have loyal customers choosing to come back and shop at Waitrose every week in Amwaj. We also have a location for the new store.”

On Amwaj the supermarket offers an assortment of Waitrose-branded products as well as locally-sourced items. It also offers fresh and frozen foods, a bakery, delicatessen, cheese, fish, meat, patisserie and hot food counters and stock a selected range of John Lewis homeware.

Ironically, the new store in Saar will compete for customers who currently shop at Alosra in the nearby Najibi Centre.