Spinneys, the company behind the Al Fair chain of supermarkets in the sultanate, is considering creating a mass-market supermarket across the Middle East, as CEO Johannes Holtzhausen ruled out the possibility of Al Fair competing with Lulu and Carrefour on price.
As Carrefour prepare to open a new store at the Muscat Grand Mall and Lulu also opening further outlets across the sultanate, Holtzhausen stated that Al Fair will be sticking with its high-quality 'niche' and focus on catering to that market.
Speaking at an Al Fair staff event on Monday, Holtzhausen told Muscat Daily that in the face of competition from Carrefour and Lulu and not 'split' the brand to beat rivals on price.
He said, "We have picked a niche.
We've decided we're going to operate in that segment of the market that pays more for quality. That's what we do and we're not going to try and split our brand and our competencies."
As a result, Holtzhausen added that 'maybe in the next year or two' a mass-market chain could be opened with a 'second fascia' instead of opening under the current Spinneys or Al Fair brands. He said, "In the UK, the market is split ten per cent premium and 90 per cent mass market, so it is not impossible that we in the next two years may launch a chain that competes in the mass market.
"We are contemplating to partner with a South African company to come and give us the knowhow to run a mass supermarket chain."
The Spinneys CEO added that 'long shelf-life' Waitrose products will still be available in its Al Fair stores, despite the anticipated opening of a Waitrose store in The Wave which was announced in August 2011.
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Clarification
In the January 11, 2012 edition Spinneys mulls mass-market supermarket chain, the article stated that Johannes Holtzhausen was the CEO of Spinneys. A statement issued from Spinneys Group in Lebanon states that Spinneys is owned by Abraaj Capital.
It currently operates in Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar and under two licenses granted by to companies in the United Arab Emirates and has no relation nor connection with the Al Fair company.
The Spinneys CEO in the region is Michael Wright while Mr. Holtzhausen is the CEO of Spinneys Dubai, the company which was awarded the license to operate the Spinneys brand in Dubai and the Northern Emirates only.
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Muscat Daily 2012
