In pictures: House of Fraser opens first full-line overseas shop in Abu Dhabi

House of Fraser is a retailer that is closely associated with the UK and, for many, the presence of one of the department store group’s outposts in a locality is a marker of quality and of a certain type of well-heeled customer.
While it is not deemed to be a luxury department store - that badge is generally reserved for the likes of Selfridges, Harvey Nichols, Harrods and Liberty - it is not far behind.

So it is well placed to appeal to the better-off beyond its country of origin and yet, until a couple of weeks ago, it had done nothing of the kind.

Now that has changed and the first overseas House of Fraser is up and running in Abu Dhabi. The tiny Gulf emirate, which for a long time has trailed in the commercial shadow of its glitzy neighbour Dubai, is in the process of playing catch-up, and the opening of a 100,000 sq ft House of Fraser is evidence that moves are being made.

This is Abu Dhabi’s first international department store, although Harvey Nichols has been in Dubai for some time, and it is the anchor store for the newly opened World Trade Center Mall in the heart of the downtown area. It has four floors, each a similar size, and the interior has been created by Kinnersley Kent Design, the consultancy that has worked on House of Fraser branches for years.

Ask the experts

While this is in many ways a recognisable House of Fraser, it is different in a number of important ways.

Retailers that operate in the Middle East do so with the help of a partner. The reason for this is simple, it is a legal requirement. The rules are different and navigating the cultural and legislative waters that pertain is best left to those who know how to make things happen. For House of Fraser, this has meant a joint venture with the retailer’s franchisee in the region, Retail Arabia International, which has helped to get the Abu Dhabi store up and running since it was first mooted as a possibility in 2010.

Maintaining brand values

Now it is open and since October 31 shoppers have been taking a look at what the British retailer has brought to a city with just shy of 2 million people.

Mick Kent, joint managing director at Kinnersley Kent, says: “The whole thing is about giving a nod to Middle Eastern culture. It’s been about maintaining the House of Fraser brand values, but there are differences. It’s got to look like a House of Fraser store, but with subtle changes.”

And certainly, looking at this store from the outside in, it is easy to see its provenance with both the logo and the general approach to visual merchandising in the windows being familiar from things back in the mother country.

Owing to the nature of the store and its place within the mall, the exterior is perhaps not as high profile as it might be in other locations, but it would still be quite hard to miss.

Kent claims that Abu Dhabi has been “crying out for a department store”. Those who choose to step into this one will be greeted by a vista that follows the classic blueprint, with beauty concessions at the front of the store followed by accessories, womenswear is on the first floor, then it’s menswear and, finally, kidswear and homewares on the top floor.

Middle Eastern makeover

So far, so standard, although all of this is novel in Abu Dhabi. It is easy to spot, however, the manner in which things have been adapted to cater for local taste. Perhaps the most obvious change is the colour palette.

In the UK, House of Fraser stores tend to be about silver and black coupled with a generous amount of white as a backdrop. Not so for the Middle East, where silver has been replaced by gold and brass, culminating in a gold tessellated ceiling above the escalator in the middle of the floor - intended to mimic an atrium for onlookers.

A quick inspection of the brand mix, as this is very much a house of brands, reveals that about 15% of the labels are locally sourced, adding to the sense both of place and appropriateness in the store.

There are, of course, some items that would never be found in the UK - a quick visit to the women’s swimwear department, for instance, reveals a section devoted to Islamically correct ‘burkinis’. There is also the Hello Kitty mother and daughter spa on the top floor - no men in this one.

And then there is the service. In this part of the world, good service is taken as a given and, according to Retail Arabia International retail director Jim McWilliams, this has been an important aspect of opening the store.

He says: “A large percentage of the staff that we have hired for this store have come from the hospitality industry to ensure that the levels of service are up to the standard that would be expected locally.”

Land of retail opportunity

Setting up shop in a new market is always a tricky business, but House of Fraser has done much to mitigate the risk through the use of a partner and by being sensitive to local tastes.

This has been less a case of taking an existing format and beaming it down into a relatively alien consumer
environment and more to do with remodelling thoughts and processes to come up with something that looks the same but which is different.

It seems probable, given the wealth in Abu Dhabi and the under-provision of department store-style retail, that this will prove successful. House of Fraser’s top brass had visited a week ahead of opening day and more arrived for the launch. Now it is up to shoppers, and a further five stores are in the pipeline for the region.

There are few places in the developed world where new retail is appearing on this scale at the moment. But in Abu Dhabi, saturation point seems some way off and by going in early, House of Fraser and Retail Arabia International have grabbed the opportunity. The outlook is positive.