UAE's first NBA Store opens in Abu Dhabi

The UAE’s first NBA Store has opened at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Mall coinciding with the historic preseason games between Milwaukee Bucks and Atlanta Hawks on Thursday.

The more than 500sq.m. interactive retail and community space features a wide range of authentic NBA merchandise and memorabilia, including current and former player jerseys, fan apparel, headwear, footwear, basketballs and accessories.

“This store is more of a statement that basketball could be played anywhere in the world. I have been to a lot of cities but I have never seen a city more beautiful than Abu Dhabi. I just want to thank the city for giving the NBA family a chance to bring our brand over here, and introduce it to young people,” nine-time NBA All-Star Dominique Wilkins, who attended the opening, said.

The store features exclusive NBA Abu Dhabi-branded apparel and novelties, as well as a customisation area where fans can personalise NBA jerseys.

“Basketball is the greatest sport in the world. Now it’s been displayed in this part of the world, which is a wonderful thing,” Wilkins noted.

The brick-and-mortar store is being operated by Al Mana Fashion Group. It is the second NBA Store in the Middle East after Doha.

Also, later this month, the league’s first e-commerce site NBAStoreME.com dedicated to fans in the Middle East will be launched.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver said that with the launching of a store, NBA is creating a “permanent presence in the region” as well.

“This is so much more than a store. I think to have this presence here, not just to sell the latest and the greatest merchandise, but also to have a space here, a permanent fixture, where we can have speakers, displays, exhibitions to show people what we are doing to bring the game here to Abu Dhabi,” Silver noted.

Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT – Abu Dhabi) Chairman Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, DCT – Abu Dhabi Undersecretary Saood Abdulaziz Al Hosani, DCT – Abu Dhabi Director General for Tourism Saleh Mohamed Saleh Al Geziry, Al Mana sports division general manager Tom Foley, NBA chief operating officer Mark Tatum and NBA Europe and Middle East managing director Ralph Rivera attended the official opening.