British department store group House of Fraser on has announced its expansion into the Middle East and confirmed it has entered into partnership with the UAE-based Retail Arabia International.

The franchise agreement with the UAE-based Retail Arabia International will pave for the first overseas store opening for the department store chain that operates 62 stores in the UK and Ireland.

House of Fraser will target store openings in Abu Dhabi, Cairo in Egypt, Riyadh, Jeddha and Dharan in Saudi Arabia, Muscat in Oman and Doha.

Retail Arabia International is a retail venture of UAE-based group Daud Investment’s subsidiary Daud Arabian and investment bank Gulf General Investment.

The Middle East foray forms a key element of House of Fraser’s growth plans for the business, said John King, Chief Executive at House of Fraser.

“We believe House of Fraser has significant opportunities in key global markets positioned as a premium department store providing our exclusive brands and concession partners entry into new markets. We look forward to a long relationship with Retail Arabia International,” said King.

“We are delighted to have been selected as the Middle East partner for such an iconic brand, which will see the opening of the first House of Fraser store out of the UK,” he said.

The partnership with House of Fraser brings another prestigious international brand to Retail Arabia International portfolio and provides it with strong opportunities for growth in the market, Daud said. “We are confident that House of Fraser will be a strong addition to the retail landscape here and we look forward to growing the brand in the Middle East.”

He said in the next three years, Retail Arabia International would be focusing its strategy on expanding the portfolio of existing brands across the region as well as identifying a number of other international names to diversify the business across the retail and entertainment sectors.

International expansion is one of three key areas of growth outlined by House of Fraser for the department store in September last year, three years after Highland Acquisitions acquired the chain in November 2006 for 
341 million.
Recently, the department chain appointed multichannel guru Robin Terrell to lead its e-commerce and international division.