DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- Seven Emirates Investment LLC, a master franchisee of 7-Eleven Inc., celebrated the opening of its first 7-Eleven store in the United Arab Emirates, in Dubai.
The store opened for business October 6, and the company held an event October 13 with a ribbon cutting, VIP attendance and celebratory dinner for suppliers, contractors and other guests. The location of 7-Eleven's first store in the Middle East is Bay Square, Building #4, near downtown Dubai and the world's tallest building, Burj Khalifa Tower.
The new 2,000-square-foot store carries some 2,500 products that are both typical of 7-Eleven stores and special to that part of the world.
The currently company-operated store employs 18, who reflect the diversity of the United Arab Emirates.
"We worked closely with Seven Emirates and our parent company Seven-Eleven Japan to ensure we are providing the neighborhood with the products they expect from 7-Eleven as well as fresh foods typically consumed there," said Chris Tanco, 7-Eleven executive vice president and head of International. "Guests to this store can find 7-Eleven favorites like Slurpee and Big Gulp beverages, fresh foods and high-quality, value-priced 7-Select snacks."
The prepared fresh-daily foods include Arabian, Indian and Asian lunch-box meals, like chicken biryani and rice balls. Also for meal or snack times, the store carries samosas, curries and falafel wraps, hummus, Greek and tabouleh salads. Orange date muffins and Umm Ali are among the pastry and dessert selections.
The store offers a number of special features and customer conveniences. For example, an indoor counter faces outdoors where customers can eat and charge their mobile devices; a mini-office area has an ATM, bill payment and copier machines and there are delivery bicycles outside for on-demand service.
Seven Emirates operates the store now, but it expects it to be franchised in the future after the infrastructure that supports 7-Eleven stores is fully built. This includes partnerships with third parties that would make and deliver fresh foods daily and 7-Eleven's proprietary retail information system.
Seven Emirates plans to open a second 7-Eleven store in December in the Dubai Marina neighborhood.
Based in Dallas, 7‑Eleven operates, franchises or licenses approximately 10,700 7‑Eleven convenience stores in North America. Globally, there are nearly 57,400 7‑Eleven c-stores in 17 countries.
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