Debenhams moving online in UAE? British store closes doors in Dubai Mall, Mirdif City Centre

Debenhams has closed its doors in two major destinations, Dubai Mall and Mirdiff City Centre.

Days before the stores shut down, Debenhams Middle East took to Instagram to alert customers of last-minute sales as it called on shoppers to enjoy "amazing prices" and "buy 1 get 2 free offers" during its last days.

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On June 12, the British department store closed its doors in Dubai Mall, and on June 22 in Mirdif City Centre.

However, residents need not be disappointed as the store may be moving online! A 'Debenhams UAE' online store will be launched "soon", although the exact date has not been revealed so far.

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So far, the Debenhams brand has offline department stores exclusively in the Mena region, operated by Alshaya Group with a licence from Boohoo Group plc. In other parts of the world, Debenhams ceased to operate its physical stores in 2021.

In 2021, Boohoo acquired Debenhams, shutting down all its brick-and-mortar stores, and converting it to an online-only brand.

However, it continued to honour its agreement with Alshaya, which operates Debenhams in locations across Mena. Boohoo has since then rebranded to Debenhams Group, aiming to use the success of the venture as a standard format for the wider group.

At the time of writing this report, it is unclear if Debenhams will face a similar fate of digital retail in the UAE. Khaleej Times has reached out to Debenhams Middle East for comment.

Poojaraj Maniyeri

pooja@khaleejtimes.com

Poojaraj Maniyeri is a Digital Journalist who loves turning everyday conversations into news stories. She is also a typical bookworm, and brings a novel with her everywhere she goes.