Bloomingdale’s to Open in Dubai

Cincinnati Macy's Inc. said Monday it will open Bloomingdale's stores for the first time outside the United States with two stores—a 146,000-sq.-ft. department store and a 54,000-sq.-ft. home store—in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in 2010. The openings are part of a strategic relationship with Al Tayer Group LLC, a diversified business company, also located in the United Arab Emirates.

Both locations will be inside The Dubai Mall, which will be one of the world's largest shopping centers when completed in 2008.

"This will be our company’s first overseas location, and we expect to learn a great deal about how our brands translate internationally," Macy's chairman and chief executive Terry J. Lundgren said in a statement. iDubai offers a unique opportunity for Bloomingdale's. It is a fast-growing, affluent marketplace that has emerged as an international destination for tourism, sporting events and business."

The Dubai Mall will have more than 1,200 stores, more than 160 food and beverage outlets and a host of leisure attractions including the Dubai Aquarium & Discovery Centre; the world’s largest indoor Gold Souk; Fashion Avenue, a fashion precinct dedicated to haute couture; the Olympic-sized Dubai Ice Rink; an innovative children’s ‘edu-tainment’ centre; and an indoor theme park.