Aswaaq will celebrate the launch of its sixth UAE branch—and fourth community centre—on October 29th 2009, located in the Al Warqa’a 2 community of Dubai. By providing excellent shopping facilities and offering an array of services for local residents at competitive UAE prices, the Al Warqa’a centre aims to strengthen the local community spirit.
The community centre is built on 60,000 sq foot of land and consists of retail shops and a 27,000 sq foot supermarket, offering the same services and selection as Aswaaq’s additional community centres in Nad Al Hamar, Mizhar, and Umm Suqeim. This includes a bakery, butcher, fresh fruit and vegetable sections, a wide selection of brands and products from Monoprix and Aswaaq labelled products. Home delivery services will also be available, and shoppers can take advantage of WAFA loyalty points as well as other promotions.
Within the community centre, the Dakakeen concept showcases exceptional Arabian flare, presenting visitors the opportunity to browse through locally-produced items while enjoying a glimpse into the past. Fitting comfortably into the centre’s old “souq” design, Dakakeen shops offer rich Oud fragrances, lavish hand-made fabrics, and jewellery shops of the highest calibre. It is the second Dakakeen concept in an Aswaaq community centre, preceded by the popular Dakakeen sector of Aswaaq’s Mizhar development.
The centre will host the world renowned French Bakery, a brand that will be incorporated into Aswaaq’s future centres. The village-themed café and bakery will offer gourmet European and French baked-goods in addition to serving light meals and an international selection of beverages.
Furthermore, Aswaaq has announced that a number of tenants representing world renowned brands will have their shops at the centre including Dunkin Donuts, Baskin Robins, Emirates Driving Institute, Al Jaber Optical, Bin Sina Pharmacy, Digital Moon, Lily Pond, Salman Mandi Restraurant, Hatam Restaurant, Yamal Al Sham, Al Forqan Bookshop, Emirates Road Automatic Laundry, Katakeet Saloon, Deebaj Furniture, Zero Five Zero Telecom, Big Future Toys & Video games, Al Rashidiyah Computers, Al Nofarah , Jungle Juice, Al Moheet Tailor, Muna Shehab Tailoring & Embroidery, Especo Trading Est. , Inter Connect General Trading , Yasmeen World Trading, Basmat Al Khaleej Tailoring, and Heads Of Mountains for Honey Trading.
Commenting on the inaugural celebration, Mr. Yousuf Sharaf, Deputy CEO of Aswaaq, says:
“The opening of the Al Warqa’a community centre is in line with our plan to launch a total of five Aswaaq community centres by the end of 2009. While this is in itself a great accomplishment, even more important is the fact that we’ve been able to keep our promise to the communities in which we are working, despite the challenges posed to the development sector this year. We are expecting impressive turnout especially with the fact that Al Warqa’a area is witnessing an increased population with new development projects being delivered. We are looking forward to meet the needs of the community and offer our highest service levels.
“Since our inception, we have focused our efforts on offering job opportunities to UAE Nationals in our supermarkets. This has positioned us as the only retailer in the UAE whose staff is comprised of a high percentage of UAE nationals of both genders. We believe that one of our key roles is to pave the way for future generations to have a professional career in the retail sector by providing training courses and professional guidance. Our focus is in line with the vision of the government to open up job opportunities for UAE Nationals, specifically members of Hamdan Bin Mohammed Establishment for Young Business Leaders and SME,” added Mr. Sharaf.
Aswaaq will also organize a special promotion for the first 200 customers buying from different shops in Aswaaq with a minimum value of AED 50. The customers will have the chance to win valuable prizes and gifts distributed on the 29th, 30th and 31st off October.
In line with Aswaaq’s vision to engage its customers in the shopping experience, the company has introduced a creative and encouraging engagement program to ensure that customers share their thoughts and suggest their ideas that can benefit them and Aswaaq at the same time. The suggestions and ideas will be discussed through a special panel to evaluate the effect of those ideas on sales, service quality and customer satisfaction. The ideas will be classified according to level of creativity, level of influence and the possibility of easy implementation and will allow the customers who came up with those ideas to win amongst six prizes’ categories which can reach up to AED 5000.
The customer with the best idea will have the chance to earn 5% or a maximum of AED 30,000 from the amount of profit or cost cut that his idea generated. Also, during the opening day of Aswaaq Al Warqa’a, the first 100 customers who submit their suggestions and ideas will be rewarded 1000 points on their Wafa cards.