Dubai: Bur Dubai residents may be spoilt for choice when it comes to groceries and supermarkets, but there is always room for more.
At least that is the impression one got when scores of residents from the neighbourhood swarmed the Fathima Hypermarket on Khalid Bin Al Waleed Road at its launch on Sunday morning.
“What’s the big fuss about?” asked one passer-by as people waiting outside rushed in when the doors opened.
Mankhool resident Mariam said, “It’s just the novelty factor. I am curious to see what the new store has to offer.”
Another reisdent Rajat said, “I’ve gone through a brochure I was handed out and there are some good deals – tomatoes, onions and potatoes for Dh0.95 a kg - quite a steal while it lasts.”
Weekly deals
Inside the 28,000 square foot showroom, E.P. Moosa Haji, chairman of the Fathima Group of Companies, said the inaugural offers will be the first in a series of deals that will change every week. He said, “This is the largest hypermarket in our chain which has 33 outlets in the GCC.”
The hypermarket is located in the heart of Bur Dubai with three other supermarkets - Carrefour, Apsara and West Zone - in the immediate vicinity, not to mention many others nearby. Asked why it has been launched in a neighbourhood already serviced by many supermarkets and departmental stores, Haji said, “We wanted to open our flagship hypermarket in the busy Bur Dubai area which has a strong presence of the Asian community. Our trading businesses and scale of operations enable us to give a good proposition to our customers in terms of both product lines and prices.” He said the Fathima hypermarket offers 25,000 product lines across 25-30 categories with seven check-out counters.
Spread across two levels, it houses separate sections for groceries, bakery, fish, meat and poultry, roastery, consumer electronics, fashion jewellery, fashion garments, footwear etc. The showroom also has an Al Ghurair Money Exchange, Life Pharmacy, Bombay Chowpatty and Smart Travels outlets.
He said the Fathima group, which opened its first grocery in Abu Dhabi in 1968, had come a long way. Besides its chain of supermarkets, it also runs trading divisions that directly import and distribute frozen and dry foodstuffs though agencies, a water factory, flour mill, fashion franchise, a catering division and restaurant.
