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Spinneys supermarkets in the UAE

Spinneys (not Spinnys or Spinney's) is a well known chain of supermarkets in the UAE with stores in Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Ras Al Khaimah, Sharjah and also internationally. Spinneys usually have a good range of products, and is a popular place to shop, especially with Western expats, although it is regarded as more expensive than some of the other supermarket chains in Dubai such as Union Co-op, Choithrams, Carrefour and Lulu's. Most Spinneys shops have pork sections for those who need a black pudding fix. Spinneys supermarkets are not related to Caroll Spinney (the Big Bird muppet operator from Sesame Street).

• As of 23 Sep 2013, Spinneys Dubai LLC operate 48 Spinneys stores in the UAE (press release).

Spinneys store locations in the UAE and Middle East

List of Spinneys stores in UAE and Middle East

Area	Store Name	Location	Opening hours	Contact	Notes
Spinneys stores and alcohol shops in Abu Dhabi
[Moved] List of Spinneys stores in Abu Dhabi
Spinneys stores in Dubai
[Moved] List of Spinneys stores in Dubai
Spinneys stores in Sharjah
Sharjah	Ghubaiba Spinneys	Al Ghubaiba Road, next to The Home Centre.	8:00am-12:00am	tel +971-6-5660844 fax +971-6-5664875	Opened 1997 (acquired store from First Choice)
Sharjah	Fine Fair	Fine Fair Commercial Complex, Quran Roundabout, Airport Road.		tel +971-6-5665055 fax +971-6-5668455.	PO Box 24663, Sharjah, UAE
Sharjah	King Faisal Spinneys	King Faisal Road, opposite Nova Hotel	8:00am-12:00am	tel +971-6-5727011 & +971-6-5722830 fax +971-6-5725179
Sharjah	Sahara Centre Spinneys	Basement Level of the Sahara Center	Sat-Thu 8:30am-12am	tel +971-6-5318555 fax +971-6-5318585	Open on Fri 8:30am-11:30am & 1pm-12am
Sharjah	Taawun Mall Spinneys	Al Taawun shopping mall	8:00am-12:00am	tel +971-6-5776001	Closed Fri 1130-1300
Al Majaz 2					Spinneys Market
Spinneys stores in other UAE emirates
Ajman		Dana Plaza, Rumaila	24 hrs	tel +971-6-7422008	Small shop, opened March 2007, location Sheikh Rashid bin Humaid Street, Rumaylah/Rumailah
Al Ain		Al Bateen SouqExtra			Opening date 29 April 2010
Ras Al Khaimah (RAK)	Spinneys	Al Hamra Mall	08:00am-11:00pm	tel +971-7-2434010	Opposite RAK Ceramics, open April 2008
Ras Al Khaimah					Warehousing or distribution facilities, and an office.
Ruwais
Spinneys international stores listed by country
Algeria					Expansion plans - July 2007 news
Bahrain, Manama					Renamed?
Egypt					Hypermarket, planned, location unknown
Egypt, 6th of October City		Cityscape Mall			Hypermarket, planned, open July 2010
Egypt, 6th of October City		Mall of Arabia			In Juhanya Square. Planned.
Egypt, Alexandria					First Spinneys store
Egypt, Greater Cairo		City Stars Mall, Omar Ibn Elkhatab St, Heliopolis	1000-0100 Su-We 1000-0200 Th	tel +202-2-4802547	Hypermarket, Fridays open 1300-0200 (winter) and 1400-0200 (summer)
India					Expansion plans - July 2007 news
Iraq					Expansion plans - July 2007 news
Jordan, Amman		Taj Mall			4500 sq m, opening date Dec 2011
Jordan, Amman		Shmeisani			Opening date 11 Nov 2012
Kazakhstan					Expansion plans - July 2007 news
Kuwait					Expansion plans - July 2007 news
Lebanon					Stores in Ashrafieh, Dbayeh (open 1998), Jnah, Saida, Tripoli, Tyr
Lebanon - Byblos					Opening date Sep 2012, area 3,000 sq m.
Lebanon - Choueifat		Spot C Mall	Open 2015		Area 7,300 sq meters, announced 25 Jul 2013.
Lebanon 2012					Expansion plans in 2012 include Jbeil (Jbail), 2nd store in Ashrafiyeh (Achrafieh) (03 Aug 2012 news)
Libya Hypermarket 1					Expansion plans Jul 2007 news. Update Jun 2010, opening date end 2011.
Libya Hypermarket 2					Jun 2010 news - open end 2012.
Pakistan					Expansion plans - July 2007 news
Qatar, Doha		The Mall, D Ring Rd, Najma Roundabout	1000-2200 Sa-Th 1300-2200 Fr	tel +974-44671666 fax +974-44660354	1600 sq m, open 2009? H1 2010
Qatar, Doha		The Pearl			2 stores, open by mid-2011? Opening announced 12 Jan 2012
Qatar, Doha		Medina Centrale			4,000 sq m, open in 2012?
Qatar, Al Waab City					agreement signed February 2009?
Saudi Arabia					Expansion plans - July 2007 news
Syria Spnneys Market	Damascus	Qudsaya suburb		tel +963-11-3443773	Information not confirmed, open Aug 2012?
Syria					Expansion plans - July 2007 news

• No stores in Fujairah, or Umm Al Quwain (as of June 2010). Ras Al Khaimah Spinneys opened in Al Hamra Mall in April 2008, Al Ain Spinneys opened in SouqExtra! Al Bateen in April 2010.
• *Planned Spinneys stores - Information from Spinneys Dubai CEO interview with Emirates Today published 14 September 2007. Appears to be some overlap with a few stores already opened eg Mirdiff Community Center, Emaar Residences, Ajman.

Spinneys expansion plans

• Spinneys opened a new store in Lebanon in October 2011 and plans to open 3 more in the country before the end of 2011. Further plans include another 3 stores in Qatar, 2 in Jordan, 3 in Egypt, and maybe another 4 in Lebanon (report wasn't clear) by 2013. Plans for new stores in Libya, Syria and Tunisia were delayed by political events in those countries during 2011 (Reuters report 31 October 2011).
• Spinneys plan to open 3 stores in the UAE and 2 stores in Oman during 2010, and possibly expand to Saudi Arabia (Maktoob report October 2009.
• Spinneys are planning to open up to 10 supermarkets in the SoukExtra chain of shopping centers according to a report in April 2009.

Spinneys Jordan

• 12 Nov 2013 (Bloomberg) - Majid Al Futtaim Holding (MAF) is planning to buy Spinneys Jordan but not Spinneys in any other countries. In May 2013, MAF was considering buying Abraaj Capital's stake in Spinneys outside the UAE.
• 11 Nov 2012 (press release) - opening of second branch of Spinneys in Amman announced, in Shmeisani. Location, opening hours, contact details not supplied.
• Opening of Spinneys Taj Mall announced 18 December 2011 (press release). Store area 4,500 sq m.
• First Spinneys supermarket in Jordan in the TAJ mall in the Abdoun district of Amman.
• Opening date originally planned for end 2010? Delayed until Q3 of 2011 (17 January 2011 press release).
• Area 5,000 sq meters (increased from 3,300 sq m in previous information).

Spinneys Lebanon

• 25 Jul 2013 - new Spinneys store announced in Chouiefat in The Spot C shopping mall. Area 7,300 sq meters, opening date expected in 2015.
• 19 Sep 2012 - new Spinneys store opening in Byblos announced, area 3,000 square meters (press release).
• Spinneys started operating in Lebanon in 1948. Then stopped operations (when)? Then started again in 1998 with a branch opening in Dbayeh.

Spinneys Qatar

• Spinneys plans to open 6 stores in Qatar between 2011 and 2014. One agreement signed in February 2009 for an outlet in Al Waab City, (25 March 2011 news reports).
• Two stores to be opened at The Pearl-Qatar. A flagship supermarket at Porto Arabia (area 4,000 sq m, opening date mid-2011), and a second shop at Medina Centrale (area 500 sq m, opening date mid-2011) (25 March 2011 news reports).

Spinneys Syria

• Nov 2007 - Souria Holdings and Spinneys signed an agreement to open several Spinneys supermarkets in Syria (press release January 2008).
• 06 May 2004 - Abraaj Capital reported Arif Naqvi, who has an 80 per cent stake in Spinneys parent Cupola, said: "We have an operating business in Lebanon, and the addition of Jordan and Syria will represent the next stage of spreading the brand into new territories."

Magrudy's bookshops in Spinneys supermarket centers

• Magrudy's manage/own managed/owned several book stores in Spinneys supermarket centers, including Dubai Silicon Oasis, Jumeirah Beach Road (Dubai), Khalidiya (Abu Dhabi), Meadows Town Centre (Dubai), Mercato Mall (Dubai), Trade Center Road (Dubai).
• Beginning March 2011, Jashanmal Bookstores will take over the Magrudy's bookstores in Spinneys outlets (The National 31 March 2011).

General information about Spinneys grocery shops and supermarkets

• Spinneys shops are usually open 0800 to 2200 (some stores 0700/0830/1000 to 2200/2300/2400/0100/0200 and even 24 hrs in Bur Dubai).
• Spinneys supermarket noticeboards are busy with for sale advertisements for cars, furniture and various other classified ads. A good place to go to sell your junk, or request/offer services like tutoring.
• There are at least 29 Spinneys stores in the UAE - 21 in Dubai, 5 in Sharjah, 2 in Abu Dhabi, 1 in Ajman (as of January 2008).
• Some Spinneys branches have recycling depots for newspapers, plastic bags, plastic bottles, aluminium cans.
• Like all supermarkets in the UAE, Spinneys don't sell alcohol in their stores but some Spinneys complexes in Dubai have an A&E or MMI bottle shop next door. Spinneys in Abu Dhabi operate separate liquor stores. The Spinneys alcohol shop in the Sharjah Booze Souk closed around 1996/1997 (along with the rest of the Sharjah Booze Souq).
• 'Living in the Gulf' is Spinneys' own weekly magazine. Contains a few coupons and recipes. About what you'd expect from a supermarket chain producing their own magazine.
• Spinneys Dubai LLC head office & postal address (except for Fine Fair in Sharjah): Spinneys Jebel Ali, PO Box 677, Dubai, UAE, tel +971-4-3555250, fax +971-4-3555269, email spinexpt@emirates.net.ae.

Spinneys products and selection

• The stores are tidy, well organised, relatively spacious, have a large range of magazines and foreign newspapers. Spinneys have pork sections in most branches (except Deira and Sharjah).
• Good quality meat, vegetables. Excellent range of bread baked in the store.
• Delicatessen counter stocks a good range of stuffed olives and other culinary delights to cram into your visitors' gobs before dinner. The hommous (humous, homous, hummous) and the potato salad are outstanding, and there's a decent range of cheeses. The pork delicatessen has a good selection of pates and salamis, and their spicy Italian sausages are great for BBQs.
• Prepared meals look better than they taste - a home delivery from your nearest Chinese or Indian restaurant is a better idea.
• Mondays is Market Day at Spinneys meaning they have special promotions on a variety of products. Occasionally there are actually some good deals.

Spinneys ownership and history

• Spinneys was first founded in the Middle East in 1924 in Alexandria, Egypt by Arthur Rawdon Spinney. Spinneys was established in the UAE in 1942 in Al Nasr Square, Deira and was originally known as 'The Frozen Chicken' because it launched the first chiller van selling frozen chickens. In 1995 a major distribution center was opened in Al Quoz, Dubai.

Spinneys Dubai LLC and Spinneys Abu Dhabi LLC

• Spinneys Dubai LLC own and run the Dubai and Oman stores (called Al Fair). Spinneys Dubai is owned by Mr Ali Al Bawardi (Albawardi, Albawardy, Al Bawardy, Al Bwardi, Al Bwardy, Albwardy, Albwardi). He bought it from the original owners, the Cupola Group.
• Spinneys Abu Dhabi LLC own stores in Abu Dhabi. Spinneys Dubai manages them in conjunction with Abdulla Masood. CEO of Spinneys Dubai is Jannie C Holtzhausen.
• Spinneys Dubai is a separate organisation from Spinneys Group Limited, and Spinneys Dubai have the right to use the 'Spinneys' name only in the UAE.

Spinneys Group

• CEO of Spinneys Group is Michael Wright, since 2006. Prior to that he was Managing Director of Spinneys Holding Ltd, and before that held other positions in the Spinneys organisation since the late 1980s.
• Abraaj Capital is the managing shareholder in Spinneys Group Limited. A possible Initial Public Offering (IPO) was mentioned in July 2007 when Spinneys borrowed US$80 million (as part of a US$180m finance program) to fund its growth plans across the Middle East.
• Spinneys Group (or Spinneys Holding) own or operate stores in Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Seychelles (Nov 2006, called SupaSave Discount Store).
• Spinneys Group expansion plans include new stores opening in Bahrain (Alosra supermarket?), Qatar, Pakistan, Jordan and negotiations to open more stores in other Middle Eastern, Asian & African locations including Algeria, India, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Libya, Saudi Arabia and Syria (July 2007 news).
• Spinneys Group plan to open 2 hypermarkets in Libya, one at end 2011, and one at end 2012 (Arabian Business report 08 June 2010). Investment of $8m to $10m for each store.
• The same AB report also said The group has already announced plans to open four stores in Qatar and Jordan in 2010 and 2011, while in the same period it will add seven outlets to its existing eight in Lebanon and Egypt.

Spinneys personnel

• Chief Development Officer - Alister Calder (appointed in 2008).

Last update Wednesday 25-Jun-2014

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