Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is the sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and then sells in smaller quantities to consumers for a profit. Retailers are the final link in the supply chain from producers to consumers.
Virgin Megastores is an international entertainment retailing chain, founded in early 1976 by Richard Branson as a record shop on London's Oxford Street.
Ace Hardware Corporation is an American hardware retailers' cooperative based in Oak Brook, Illinois, United States. It is the largest non-grocery retail cooperative in the United States.
Sephora is a French multinational retailer of personal care and beauty products, offering nearly 340 brands alongside its own private label, the Sephora Collection. Its product range includes cosmetics, skincare, fragrance, nail color, beauty tools, body products, and hair care items.
Alliance Boots was a multinational pharmacy-led health and beauty group with corporate headquarters in Bern, Switzerland and operational headquarters in Nottingham and Weybridge, United Kingdom.
Axiom Telecom is a technology retailer founded in 1997 by Faisal Al Bannai, with four employees at the start of its operations. Axiom became the official distributor for mobile consumer brands in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, including Samsung, Apple, LG, HTC, Huawei, Nokia, BlackBerry, and held the largest market share in the Middle East.
Majid Al Futtaim Holding is an Emirati holding company based in Dubai. The family-owned conglomerate owns and operates shopping malls, retail, and hotel establishments in the Middle East and North Africa.
LuLu Group International is a 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.
Yusuff Ali Musaliam Veettil Abdul Kader, popularly known as M. A. Yusuff Ali, is an Indian businessman and billionaire. He is the chairman and managing director of LuLu Group International, which owns the LuLu Hypermarket chain worldwide and LuLu International Shopping Mall. With an annual turnover of US$8.4 billion, LuLu Group International employs the largest number of Indian diaspora. According to Forbes Middle East, Yusuff Ali was ranked No. 1 in Top 100 Indian business owners in the Arab World 2018. As per Forbes billionaires list published in October 2023, he was ranked 27th richest Indian with net worth of US$6.9 billion.
Watsons is a Hong Kong health care and beauty care chain store in Asia and Europe. It is the flagship health and beauty brand of AS Watson, which is majority owned by CK Hutchison Holdings.
The Al-Futtaim Group is a large conglomerate based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Al Tayer Group is a privately held holding company established in 1979. Currently, the group operates in 6 countries in the Middle East, including nearly 200 stores and 23 showrooms in multiple markets in the Middle East.
Smiggle is an Australian-based retail store chain that sells stationery and related accessories. It was founded in Melbourne by Stephen Meurs and Peter Pausewang in 2003 and acquired by the Just Group in July 2007. As of February 2016, the chain has stores located across Australia (135), New Zealand (23), Singapore (17), United Kingdom (100), Hong Kong (14), Malaysia (22) and the Republic of Ireland (3). Smiggle is renowned for its use of vibrant bold colours and quirky graphics on most of its branded products.
Landmark Group is a UAE-based multinational conglomerate headquartered in Dubai founded by Micky Jagtiani, who was the founder and chairman of the company. The group is involved in the retailing of apparel, footwear, consumer electronics, cosmetics & beauty products, home improvement, and baby products. The group also focuses on hospitality & leisure, healthcare, and mall management.
Thumbay Group is a UAE-based diversified international business conglomerate, headquartered in DIFC - Dubai, with operations across 20 sectors including education, healthcare, medical research, diagnostics, retail pharmacy, health communications, retail opticals, wellness, nutrition stores, hospitality, real estate, publishing, technology, media, events, medical tourism, trading and marketing, and distribution.
X5 Group is Russia's largest food retailer. In 2012, the organization of X5-Retail Group LLC was liquidated, and in 2018 X5 Group LLC was opened.
AW Rostamani Group, also known as “AWR”, is a privately held company established in 1954 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, by Al Rostamani brothers, Abdullah and Abdul Wahid Al Rostamani. The company is headquartered in Dubai and employs over 3,800 workers. The Group operates 12 companies in seven diverse sectors: automotive, real estate, retail, lighting, travel and logistics.
Chalhoub Group is a privately held luxury goods retailer and distributor, headquartered in Dubai, UAE.
The retail format influences the consumer's store choice and addresses the consumer's expectations. At its most basic level, a retail format is a simple marketplace, that is; a location where goods and services are exchanged. In some parts of the world, the retail sector is still dominated by small family-run stores, but large retail chains are increasingly dominating the sector, because they can exert considerable buying power and pass on the savings in the form of lower prices. Many of these large retail chains also produce their own private labels which compete alongside manufacturer brands. Considerable consolidation of retail stores has changed the retail landscape, transferring power away from wholesalers and into the hands of the large retail chains.
Apparel Group LLC is a UAE based fashion and retail conglomerate company headquartered in Dubai, UAE.
$4.59 billion (2011–12) [2] 
