| LuLu Group International | |
| Type: | Limited liability company |
| Founder: | M. A. Yusuff Ali |
| Key People: | M. A. Yusuff Ali (Founder & Managing Director) |
| Industry: | Conglomerate |
| Revenue: | US$7.4 billion (March 2020) |
| Num Employees: | 57,000 |
| Location City: | Abu Dhabi |
| Location Country: | United Arab Emirates |
| Locations: | 239 stores |
LuLu Group International is an Emirati-based multinational conglomerate company that operates a chain of hypermarkets and retail companies, headquartered in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It was founded in 2000 by M. A. Yusuff Ali from Nattika in Kerala, India. The Group mainly operates "Lulu Hypermarket", a chain of hypermarkets that ranks among the top grocers in many of the markets it operates in. LuLu has over 65,000 employees of various nationalities.[1] [2]
It is one of the largest retail chains in Asia and is the biggest in the Middle East with 259 outlets in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and elsewhere. In addition to Lulu Hypermarket, the group operates 13 malls in the GCC, and 5 malls in India. The group is among the world's 50 fastest growing retailers.[3] [4] The group also owns the Lulu Convention Centre in Thrissur and the Lulu Bolgatty International Convention Centre in Mulavukad Island which is one of the largest convention centres in South Asia[5] [6] The group accquired a 10-percent stake in the UK-based trading firm, East India Company, and a 40-percent stake in its fine foods subsidiary for around $85 million in total.[7] Y International is the export distribution center in the United States and Europe for LuLu Group International.[8] [9]
LuLu Group International opened its first supermarket in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, in 1995, when the retail business scenario in the region started to change with the entry of Continent (now Carrefour). Later, LuLu supermarkets expanded its operations Abu Dhabi and opened several Lulu stores in the emirate of Dubai. In the late 1990s, the LuLu Center department stores were launched, and the group expanded to other countries in the Middle East.
In 2000, the first Lulu Hypermarket store was opened in Dubai. With this launch, the group embarked on an aggressive expansion plan. It soon grew into a chain with several outlets across the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, and Yemen. On March 10, 2013, the first LuLu mall in India was opened in Kochi which was the largest mall in the country during that time.[10] [11] [12] The group opened its largest mall, Lulu Mall in Thiruvananthapuram in December 2021, which was inaugurated by the Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan along with other personalities including actor Mammootty.[13]
As of July 2022, there are more than 200 LuLu Hypermarkets in the GCC, 7 in India at Kochi, Bangalore, Lucknow, Coimbatore, Trivandrum, Palakkad and Hyderabad,[14] [15] 4 in Malaysia and 4 in Indonesia. Lulu group has 6 other operations in India, the LuLu Cyber Tower in Kochi, Kerala, LuLu fashion center in Thrissur, 2 Marriott hotels and resorts in Kochi, 2 LuLu International Convention Centre in Thrissur and Kochi, 1 Grant Hyatt hotel Kochi and 2 Hyatt Regency in Trivandrum and Thrissur. Lulu group is heavily investing in Bengaluru, Chennai, Bhubaneswar, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Calicut and Trivandrum.
The group has started construction of their new malls in Calicut, Kottayam,Tirur, Ahmedabad, Chennai and Varanasi. The group also have plan to construct malls in Prayagraj, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi and hypermarket in Perintalmanna.The LuLu group is also setting up a food processing unit in Greater Noida.
In April 2013, LuLu Group launched operations in Birmingham with the inauguration of logistics and packaging facility under the name, Y International. The facility procures and exports food, non-food, chilled and frozen products of British origin for sale in LuLu Hypermarkets. Date coding and labelling for different countries, translation of labels, Halal and other relevant certifications are also carried out. Y International employs 60 employees and aims to create 200 jobs.[16] In May 2014, following the visit of then Prime Minister of Malaysia Najib Razak to UAE, a memorandum of understanding between Lulu Hypermarket and the Federal Land Development Authority of Malaysia was signed for the establishment of ten Lulu Hypermarkets in Malaysia.[17] [18]
| Country | First store | Number of stores | |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Arab Emirates | 2000 | 175[19] | |
| India | 2013[20] | 9 | |
| Oman | 2005 | 31 | |
| Bahrain | 2007[21] | 11 | |
| Saudi Arabia | 2009[22] | 34[23] | |
| Kuwait | 2007 | 6 | |
| Qatar | 2000 | 22 | |
| Egypt | 2010[24] | 3 | |
| Yemen | 2006 | 1 | |
| Indonesia | 2016 | 2[25] | |
| Suriname | 2016 | 1 | |
| Malaysia | 2016 | 4 |
Lulu Hypermarket is owned by LuLu Group International.[26] LuLu Group International also owns Twenty14 Holdings, which owns hotels across the world.
In August 13 2024 the hacker posted the full database of the Hypermarket exposing 2.8M email addresses, phone numbers, full names, physical addresses and PBKDF2 hashed passwords.