Apple looks set to launch its first official retail presence in the Middle East with a new store in Dubai's Mall of the Emirates, according to a new report, with the location said to be the largest the Cupertino company has ever built.
The Mall of the Emirates is a 2.4-million square foot establishment that is home to over 700 retail stores as well as Dubai's famous indoor ski resort. Apple is planning to take over a space currently belonging to a movie theater, notes EDGARdaily, which bills itself as a publication that provides "discernible gentlemen in the Middle East everything there is to know, to buy, to do, to see and to go."
Apple CEO Tim Cook was spotted in the United Arab Emirates earlier this year. He first met with UAE Prime Minister Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum in Abu Dhabi, before speaking with UAE Minister of Cabinet Affairs Mohammad Abdullah Al Gergawi in Dubai.
Cook later visited a number of Apple resellers in the emirates.
Apple opened an online store in the UAE in 2011, but still lacks a first-party retail presence. The company is in the midst of a massive retail expansion under new stores czar Angela Ahrendts, and recently reached an accord with Saudi Arabian retailer Jarir Bookstore to expand sales in that country.