LuLu Hypermarket today opened its 33rd outlet in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the strategic and historic Hafar Al Batin in the Eastern Province. The grand yet practical store is spread across one level of more than 120,000 square feet in the Al Othaim Mall, and promises to be a shoppers' delight, complete with all the popular LuLu shopping touch-points such as grocery, fresh fruit, veg and fashion, making shopping a bountiful experience for shoppers. Prince Mansour bin Mohammed bin Saad, the governor of Hafar Al Batin Region inaugurated the store in the presence of Eng. Khalaf Hamdan Al Otaibi, Mayor of Hafar Al batin. The chief guests were welcomed by Yusuff Ali MA, Chairman and Managing Director of Lulu Group International and senior management. Yusuff Ali thanked the Saudi leadership – King Salman bin Abdulaziz, Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, the Crown Prince and PM and Prince Saud bin Naif Bin Abdulaziz, Governor of Eastern province. "The Saudi leadership is building a strong economic environment in the Kingdom for investors and citizens to thrive and prosper," Yusuff Ali said, adding, "The LuLu Group's new hypermarket in the Eastern Province underscores our efforts to keep pace with the rapid urban expansion of Saudi Arabia where more and more cities and districts are increasing facilities and see the community as the heart of the Kingdom's progress." The Chairman added that LuLu Group was working towards consolidating its Saudization and pledged to employ 10,000 Saudi nationals by the end of 2025. The thirty-three LuLu stores in the Kingdom presently employ 4,000 Saudi nationals, of which 1,500 are women. The hypermarket will stock an abundant range of fresh fruit, vegetables, meat, and seafood from around the world, have an in-house bakery to serve up fresh-baked breads and cakes, as well as shopping options that tap into new award-winning trends. These include a wide selection of plant- based meat substitutes and foods, a special organic and superfood selections and an extensive 'free-from' range varieties. The store also includes popular LuLu shopping stations such as LuLu Fashion, the electronics section LuLu Connect, the beauty and cosmetics division BLSH and optical and eyewear section, EyeExpress. A special feature will be the unique emphasis on food products grown and produced in Saudi Arabia – farmed fish, the best cuts of locally slaughtered lamb and beef in the meat section, Saudi coffee, Saudi-grown fruits and vegetables and also foods made in Saudi Arabia. Savvy shoppers can also track and save on shopping by opting the channel their payments through financial payment tools such as Tabby and banks which offer payment by instalments at 0% and also Qaura, offering easy instalment payment schemes The Hafar Al Batin store will also offer shoppers the environmentally-sound and technologically advanced service of an e-receipt for every purchase which will go as an SMS message to shoppers' phone upon payment at the checkout counter. The store offers quick and convenient shopping with 26 checkout counters and 2500 car parking spaces. An eye-catching element of the opening was the use of Saudi Arabia's traditional Sadu weaving patterns as a motif throughout the store opening campaign online and in publicity, as décor in-store and the live demonstration of Sadu weaving by skilled Saudi women. Also present at the grand opening were Director LuLu Hypermarket Saudi Arabia, Shehim Muhammed, Regional Director-LuLu Eastern Province, Moiz Nuruddin and LuLu officials.
