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| Dr Mohamed al-QahtanI and Abdulla bin Khalid al-Qahtani |
This relationship is a major step to make Al Meera one of the leading retailers within the region.
“In our commitment to all our stakeholders, including both our shareholders and our customers, we believe this partnership will provide a host of benefits to all,” said Abdulla bin Khalid al-Qahtani, chairman of the Al Meera board.
“Casino and its sub-brand Geant will bring additional value to Al Meera and also falls in line with our expansion strategy.”
As a first step towards this, Casino, Al Meera (through Al Meera Holding Company) and Retail Arabia will sign a sub-franchise agreement allowing Al Meera Holding (its affiliate and/or group companies) to develop and operate hypermarkets and supermarkets under the Geant and Geant Easy banners in Qatar and Oman.
This relationship will help to reinforce the presence of the Geant and Geant Easy banners in GCC countries. Geant already has more than 10 stores in operation in the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Bahrain.
“We see this relationship as a partnership of equals and of a symbiotic nature,” said Al Meera deputy chief executive officer, Dr Mohamed al-Qahtani. “We benefit from Casino’s extensive and global experience, while Casino benefits from us via our business knowledge and understanding of the local culture – all important to make any relationship
successful.”
Casino will provide assistance to Al Meera to open Geant hypermarkets and Geant Easy supermarkets in Qatar and Oman.
The collaboration comes after a supply agreement was signed with the Al Meera earlier in 2011, which has granted Al Meera the right to exclusively sell Casino-branded products in Qatar.
Through the arrangement, Al Meera will be able to provide its customers with high quality and competitively priced products offered under the Geant
concept.
“In our expansion plan, providing high quality and diverse product offerings for our customers was a key pillar,” said Guy Sauvage, chief executive officer, Al Meera.