Eleventh anniversary deals

ONE of the kingdom’s most popular hypermarkets is celebrating 11 years of operation in Bahrain … and will be staging a series of sensational special anniversary offers for shoppers to mark the occasion.

There are special deals at Lulu stores on groceries, home appliances, clothes, footwear, toys, electronic and much more. Along with one day, two day and three day offers, there will be ‘exclusive discounts’ in all departments.

“Our high quality of products and services with reasonable pricing is the main reason why we have such a large and ever growing customer base. We also ensure we have a wide variety of products for the customer to choose from,” said Juzer Rupawala, director of Lulu International Group. “We have grown steadily over the past 11 years during the changing retail scene in the kingdom because we are reliable and consistent to our customers.”

The first store opened in Dana Mall in September 2007 and GulfWeekly covered its unveiling and watched as shoppers flocked to see what was on the shelves. With spacious aisles filled with a large variety of products, whether detergents, garments, electronics or exotic food items, Lulu Hypermarket quickly won customer loyalty for its service, quality and value-for-money.

The seeds of the Lulu Hypermarket chain were planted by Yusuff Ali M.A. who started in the 1990s with department stores and supermarkets in the UAE. The first hypermarket was opened in 2000 and the Lulu Group now boasts around 140 worldwide.

Flashback 11 years to Dana Mall and in an exclusive interview with GulfWeekly’s former shopping columnist Shilpa Chandran, Juzer said that the hypermarket was a ‘totally new and fresh design’, adding: “We are sure no-one else will be able to offer the variety and selection of products customers will find here.”

It was the start of an incredibly successful Bahrain journey. In such a competitive market, few analysts could have predicted the company’s staggering success and growth with customers across the kingdom now served with six hypermarkets – at Dana Mall, in Riffa, in A’ali’s Ramli Mall, in Hidd, at Juffair Mall and Galleria Mall – with more to come.

“Instead of waiting for the customer, we went to them by opening outlets in different areas,” Juzer told GulfWeekly in an earlier interview. “We offered a shopping experience that was uniform in standard when it came to customer service and quality but was tweaked at every different location to match customer needs of that locality.

“This combination of accessibility, uniform standards and local specialisation has been Lulu’s ‘change-maker’ contribution to Bahrain’s retail scene.”

Over the years, as the company has grown, its management has placed on record thanks to the ‘visionary rulers of Bahrain’ whose clear template of progress for the kingdom has guided it and encouraged it to invest here.

“We thank all our stakeholders – our customers who have given us their trust and their confidence, our employees who have been our partners in success and our suppliers who have stood with us in offering the best and the most cost-effective shopping experience,” Juzer said. “We have dreams of greater success in Bahrain and we welcome you to continue with us on the onward journey.”

Today, shoppers come to malls and hypermarkets not just to shop but for an ‘experience’. Lulu delivers with numerous festivals highlighting the cultural and food heritage of different countries and regular promotions such as its Digital Shopping Festivals and Back-to-School promotions, for example, underpinned by a customer service commitment.

As reported in GulfWeekly, building work continues at a pace at the Atrium Mall & Towers in Janabiya, which already boasts a planned giant Lulu and cinema complex.

The 11th anniversary promotional celebrations continue until October 13.