Marks & Spencer will open five large-format M&S Foodhalls in the United Arab Emirates over the next 12 months with its long-standing franchise partner Al-Futtaim, starting with a 15,327 sq ft store at Dubai Festival City in December, according to What’s The Jam, which reported the plan on 4 November 2026.
The Dubai Festival City store will be the biggest M&S Foodhall outside the United Kingdom and the first place outside the UK where shoppers can buy the full M&S food range under one roof. It will stock about 500 locally sourced products next to goods from more than 200 established UK food suppliers.
The format adds several in-store concepts that M&S has not previously offered in the region: a fruit butcher, a sushi counter, rotisserie chicken, a coffee shop and a pizza oven. It will also be the first time M&S flowers are sold internationally. M&S also said it would lower prices on more than half of the products in its UAE Foodhalls.
Al-Futtaim has run M&S stores across the Middle East for almost 30 years, and the new Foodhalls build on that franchise relationship. Until now the partnership has leaned on fashion; M&S said the Foodhalls are designed to build on the strength of its Fashion business in the Middle East.
Our purpose is to bring the best of M&S to more customers around the world.
That is how Mark Lemming, managing director of international at M&S, framed the move. Wassim Arabi, president of retail at Al-Futtaim, said combining M&S food with Al-Futtaim’s local market expertise and operational capabilities would set a new benchmark for food retail in the UAE.
The release signals a shift from a fashion-led franchise relationship to a food-led one, with larger boxes and a broader range. For comparison, the site has also followed how large-format and food-service concepts are entering the Gulf, including KFC Muse in Dubai and the Papa Johns Iraq extension to 2036.
For master franchise investors, the announcement shows an established brand using a trusted regional partner to introduce a new, larger format rather than a new brand. Three points stand out: the partner relationship is long-standing, the rollout is staged (one store in December, five in a year), and M&S has left the door open to further expansion. How quickly the remaining four Foodhalls follow the Dubai Festival City opening is the next data point to watch. The wider pattern of conversion and format-led growth is covered in the casual dining franchise site models overview and the regional franchising outlook.
Source: What’s The Jam — M&S to open biggest foodhall outside UK in major expansion
