Landmark targets niche market in Abu Dhabi

 

Landmark targets niche market in Abu Dhabi Dubai-based retail company Landmark Group yesterday launched a retail furniture store in Abu Dhabi targeting lifestyle conscious professionals, with plans to open a further 10 uniQue showrooms across the GCC by the end of 2010. The 36,000 square foot uniQue store at Liwa Centre, Hamdan Street, is next to the group’s existing Home Centre, one of a chain of more than 50 showrooms across the Middle East and India.

 

Luke Rolfe, Retail Operations Manager, said the uniQue offering complemented Home Centre by providing a discerning range of inspired furniture that was affordable. He said: “It is the sort of furniture you would expect to find in a bespoke, boutique hotel; tasteful, made of solid wood and high-class materials and built to last for generations.” Rolfe said the classy but affordable furniture sector was largely ignored in the GCC and that uniQue is a direct response to the exponential economic growth and real estate boom, leading to a growth in the upper middle-class market.

 

UniQue’s durable range of solid furniture also targets the corporate and hospitality sectors, he said. He said three stores will be located in Dubai, the first at the Oasis Centre, which will reopen this autumn and cover 39,000 square feet, joining the recently inaugurated 30,000 square foot uniQue showroom at Al Ain Mall.

 

Rolfe characterised the unusual layout of the store as an outlet of individually decorated showrooms. There are a total of 36 internal lounges, dining rooms and bedrooms, each one fitted out by an interior designer, with a complete range of furniture, soft furnishings, accessories and works of art.

 

The ground floor of the three-storey showroom is devoted to decorative homeware, gifts, a cohesive range of superior quality bedding and luxuriant spa accessories.