Dubai Duty Free half-year sales up 31%

Nicole Mezzasalma

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The retailer anticipates full-year sales in excess of $1bn after a strong start to 2008

Dubai Duty Free’s sales in the first six months of 2008 grew by 31% compared with the same period last year, to Dh1.9bn ($517m). The company, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, expects overall sales in 2008 to pass $1bn.

Fragrances were the best-performing category in the first half of the year, with sales up by 34% to $75m. Gold sales rose 40% to $62m, while cosmetics registered a 39% increase. Other notable growth areas were confectionery, up by 38%, and electronics, with a sales increase of 28%.

Dubai Duty Free (DDF) managing director Colm McLoughlin said: “We are well on track to exceed $1bn and that is a great achievement for all involved. There are many exciting things lined up for the operation during the rest of this year, which will culminate on our anniversary day on December 20.”

The company has recently moved to a new 27,000sq m (290,625sq ft) warehouse and distribution centre in Ramoul, which features a semi-automated retrieval and storage system. DDF also started moving to its new 6,000sq m (64,583sq ft) head office, located next to the warehouse. The retailer has increased staff by 50% to 3,000 in preparation for the opening of Dubai International airport concourse two and terminal three, which will add 10,000sq m (107,639sq ft) of retail space to DDF’s operations.

McLoughlin added: “The past year has seen the operation gear up for the great plans ahead and we are looking forward to seeing these come to fruition. In the meantime, the sales are running at around 31% ahead of last year which include significant increases in categories across the board.”