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Jacky's sees strong sales growth

His company too has seen an upward trend in sales across Dubai which, he said "is one of the main reasons we are opening two new stores in the Mall of the Emirates". It already has two existing two outlets. "We are expecting sales to remain steady and hope to see a further growth in the coming months with Ramadan," he added.

He also said there are three main factors behind the growth in consumer electronics: the fact that the world is becoming digital; an increase in tourism and the subsequent increase in visitors, who in turn frequent the malls, and the real estate boom. "We see more and more people willing to invest in quality home appliances. As most of the freehold properties are based in the Mall of the Emirates area, so we see great potential for our larger appliances to be situated in the mall premises."

Since Jacky's opened its first retail outlet in the UAE in 1988 there have been some drastic changes in the region, he said. One of these is the move away from the single-brand distributor showrooms to the multi-brand retailer, of which Jacky's was a pioneer.

The agency system, whereby only licenced companies sell certain brands, has been coming in for criticism for some time now. It is anticipated that when the new Companies Law is announced, the policy of tied agents could change.

On this system Panjabi commented: "I do not think agency systems hinders multi-brand retailing. "Even if you look at mature markets, there is only so much that a manufacturer can do. Retailers are able to localises the brand more and give wider reach to consumers where as the manufacturer may only be able to have one outlet. It is also beneficial for the manufacturer to have an agent in the country for logistical purposes, as not all manufacture are based in the UAE."