Emarat, the leading petroleum brand in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has launched a new convenience franchise model called Fresh Plus.
The first store opens in Dubai this month. It is located in Business Central Towers, twin 52-storey towers, which resemble the Chrysler Building in New York, on the Sheikh Zayed Road.
Fresh Plus is a standalone convenience store format designed to offer fresh, food-to-go in busy metropolitan environments, supported by a range of top brands and staple items.
Emarat plans to roll out the brand franchise, which was recently exhibited at the Franchising Middle East 2009 exhibition in Dubai, across the Gulf region.
According to Darren Smith, manager retail marketing support at Emarat, the company has received enquiries from individuals, businesses and corporate investors and will start formally signing franchise contracts this month (June).
Emarat’s new convenience format
Emarat operates 170 service stations and 85 convenience stores in the UAE plus six service stations in Egypt.
Fresh Plus is the company’s third c-store development in 13 years. Emarat, the original model, was followed by the Emarat Plus convenience format in 2005. Smith said these standalone stores would now be converted to the new Fresh Plus format in due course.
Emarat has also developed the Bakeria (bakery) and Café Arabicca (coffee) franchise brands.
“Later we will develop other brands into the franchise model and potentially the complete service station. We will expand regionally in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) and then further afield. Fresh Plus will initially open on commercial locations with residential locations to follow,” he said.
The Fresh Plus stores range from 10sq m to 250sq m when Bakeria is included. According to Smith, the store’s focus is on fresh food with a narrow food and non-food offer and fast and friendly service.
“We aim to meet customers’ daily needs, giving them fresh, tasty food options at a price they can afford on a daily basis,” said Smith.
Fresh Plus: a young, vibrant brand
The store design has been developed in conjunction with UK design agency, Circle. According to Smith, Fresh Plus is a young, vibrant brand.
“The brand is aimed at young, aspirational convenience shoppers who are time short but looking for a convenient and rewarding experience,” he said.
“The identity is fresh, youthful and full of vitality expressed through a bright colour palette and friendly, modern graphics.
“The interior is simply laid out and well illuminated with a focus on presenting products attractively. Developing the brand for franchise has specific requirements such as built-in flexibility for local markets, promotions and menus. The modular approach to the interior architecture enables the format to flex across many different locations.”
Smith said there is scope to develop convenience stores in Dubai.
“There are few c-store operators in Dubai. Apart from the petroleum retailers, there are two or three independent operators. Carrefour and Spinneys have small footprint shops but they are larger than the traditional convenience store. There is potential to expand but there is very little pedestrian traffic so securing the correct location is challenging.”
Traditional convenience store categories are strong along with fresh and impulse, said Smith.
Emarat has also done well with sales of DVDs, telephone accessories and other newer categories.
But not everything has been successful, he added. “We had the first Toys R Us” section in a convenience store but if you can’t do a category properly, don’t do it.”