It was a night to remember for 11 retailers as each emerged winners in RetailME Awards 2005. The first of its kind in the region, the event, held yesterday (February 26) at Dubai’s Emirates Towers Hotels, Godolphin Ballroom, was held under the patronage of Her Excellency Sheikha Lubna Bint Khaled Al Qasimi, UAE Minister of Economy.
Ilyas & Mustafa Galadari Group, developers of the City of Arabia, were the event’s title sponsor; category sponsors for RetailME Awards 2005 included: BurJuman, Mall of Arabia, Ernst & Young, Apparel group, In Retail, Crystal Gallery, The Emirates Evening Post, Masterkey Systems, The Millionaire Co and Hewlett Packard.
The RetailME Awards were introduced in the publication’s ongoing pursuit to becoming an invaluable resource to retailers and suppliers from the retail trade, said Pierre Pereira, Director, Concept Media - publishers of RetailME.
Retail standards in the region are high, what the RetailME Awards will do is ‘raise the bar’ even higher by stimulating competition, said Saeed Mohammed Al Nabouda, Chief Executive Officer, Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF) and Dubai Summer Surprises (DSS), and a member of the international panel of judges. “RetailME Awards 2005 is extremely important at this stage as the Middle East retailing industry is growing rapidly. We, as organisers of the Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF) and Dubai Summer Surprises (DSS) are working towards showcasing the regional retail industry and setting benchmarks to meet global standards. Our success would not have been possible without the support of our retail community,” he said.
Commenting on the entries, Peter Walichnowski, CEO, Skylan Properties, Seoul, Korea, (ex CEO of MAF Investments) said: “I am very impressed by the quality of submissions received for the awards. It made my job as a judge very difficult and I wish I could give each participant an award. These awards have demonstrated that Middle East retailing has come of age, and it positions this region as a major force in international retailing,” he added.
Winners in each category are:
New Retail Brand of the Year – Biotherm
Business Excellence of the Year – Splash
Store Manager of the Year – Claire Andow (THE One)
Grocer of the Year – Choitram
Customer Service Initiative of the Year – Jennyfer
Loyalty Programme of the Year – Mega Mart Bravo card
Rising Star of the Year – Crossover Bollywood Se
Mall of the Year - BurJuman
Online Retailer of the Year – Jacky’s
Marketing Campaign of the Year - BurJuman
Store Design of the Year – Magrabi Opticals
Lifestyle Retailer of the Year – THE One
International Retailer of the Year - Jennyfer
Local Retailer of the Year – Alukkas
The RetailME Awards 2005 is an exclusive property of RetailME, the first B2B magazine in the Middle East dedicated to the retail industry. With clearly defined sections, RetailME focuses on local and international aspects of retail from sourcing and supply chain issues through logistics, merchandising, in-store design, category management, information technology, property issues and consumer behaviour.
Published by Concept Media, RetailME operates under license from Emap Communications, UK’s second largest publishing house, and shares an exclusive relationship with their two leading titles – Retail Week and Retail World.
