Global retail chains cash in on grocery closures

• Image Credit: Ahmed Kutty/Gulf News
• One of the new Baqalas(local grocery shops) on Electra street in Abu Dhabi.

Abu Dhabi: Major retail chains, including global players, will open convenience outlets in Abu Dhabi in place of the closed grocery stores.

The coming days will see the opening of a wide range of retail shops run by companies such as Spinneys, Snacks, Adnoc Oasis, Select Express, Waitrose and Spar among others in Abu Dhabi, a senior official announced on Sunday.

“These new outlets will make up for the ones that are now closed,” Ahmad Abdul Karim Al Sharaf, acting director of communication and community service at the Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority (ADFCA), said in a statement.

But the authority did not disclose the number of stores that shut down and those under renovation after failing to meet the December 31 (Monday) deadline. However, salesmen who distribute supplies to these stores told Gulf News that out of the 1,300 grocery stores and small supermarkets in Abu Dhabi, they found a few were still open for business since January 1 (Tuesday). About 50 per cent of them were very small stores that shut down owing to space and financial constraints in implementing the new standards while the remaining are under renovation