M&S plans five new food stores in the UAE with Al-Futtaim

Marks & Spencer is preparing to expand its food business in the UAE by opening five large-format Foodhalls over twelve months, in partnership with its franchise partner, Al-Futtaim. According to a report published by ESM magazine on 2 November 2026, the rollout will begin with a store at Dubai Festival City in December 2026, set to become the brand’s largest food store outside the UK.

Dubai Festival City marks the start of the expansion

The planned store will have more than 15,000 sq ft of selling space and offer over 3,500 M&S products, alongside 500 locally sourced products. Its size and breadth of range are the defining features of the first step in the announced UAE expansion.

This is not a standalone opening: the Dubai Festival City Foodhall is the first of five large-format food stores the brand plans to open in the twelve months following the announcement. It is important to distinguish the plan from its delivery: the December opening date applies to the first store, while the broader timeframe covers the remaining planned locations.

The description of the store as the largest outside the UK also refers specifically to M&S food stores. It is not a comparison with all food retailers in the UAE or with the brand’s entire store network across different formats. This distinction puts the project’s scale in context without reading more into the announcement than it says.

A franchise partnership spanning nearly three decades

M&S is carrying out the expansion with Al-Futtaim, its longstanding franchise partner. According to ESM, Al-Futtaim has operated the brand’s stores in the Middle East for around thirty years, with a primary focus on fashion. The plan therefore represents an expansion of the food business within an established operating relationship, rather than the brand’s first entry into the UAE market.

Al-Futtaim already has a presence at Dubai Festival City, where it has operated an M&S store since 2018, serving more than 420,000 customers a year. That figure relates to the existing store; it is not an announced forecast of visitor numbers or future sales for the new Foodhall.

For the franchise sector, the story highlights a route to growth based on broadening an existing partner’s operations. Rather than signalling a search for a new operator, the announcement concerns expanding the food business with a partner that has extensive experience of running the brand in the region. That experience alone does not guarantee results for the forthcoming stores, but it is an important part of the operating relationship underpinning the expansion.

A range combining M&S products with local sourcing

The announcement provides concrete details about the first store’s offer: more than 3,500 M&S products, plus 500 locally sourced products. This indicates that the planned shopping experience will extend beyond the brand’s own products to include a locally sourced element.

Local sourcing should not, however, be confused with local manufacturing. The announcement refers to products sourced locally and does not state that all of them are made in the UAE. Product counts also describe the breadth of the announced range; on their own, they reveal neither each category’s share of sales nor the selling space allocated to it.

These details allow franchise industry observers to assess the expansion from an operational perspective, as well as in terms of new locations. The large store format and extensive product range make range management and sourcing important considerations when evaluating the model. These are practical factors for assessing any similar project, not performance results announced by M&S for the new stores.

What does the plan mean for the UAE franchise sector?

The plan offers a specific example of an international brand expanding in the UAE through franchising, combining an established partner, a large-format store model and a stronger focus on food. Its news value lies in the stated number of planned stores, the overall timeframe and the details of the first location, rather than a vague statement of expansion ambitions.

The announcement should not be read as an offer of franchise opportunities for new investors: the named operating partner is Al-Futtaim. Nor can the store’s floor area or product count be used to infer investment costs or expected returns. For those considering similar models, useful comparisons remain centred on location suitability, space requirements and the ability of operations and sourcing arrangements to support the range.

Practical takeaway: Monitor the scheduled opening at Dubai Festival City, followed by progress on the other four stores. For brand owners and operators, the announcement highlights the importance of assessing both the existing partner and the store format when considering expansion, while keeping announced plans separate from actual operating results.