Howards franchise Middle Eastern adventure

Five Howards Storage World franchise (HSW) stores are due to open in the Middle East by January 2006, following the signing of a master franchise with Al Hokair, a leader in retail franchising in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Al Hokair has purchased the rights to the entire GCC territory, which includes Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait and Bahrain. The large retail company owns the regional rights to a number of well-known brands including Marks & Spencer, Nike and Saks.

Al Hokair intends to open four HSW stores in Riyadh Saudi Arabia and one store in Dubai UAE in early 2006. There are 150 stores planned for the region, all of which will be company-owned.

This is the second international master franchise for HSW, with the opening of the first Singapore store in February this year.

“We have been impressed with the success of the master franchise operation in Singapore, and view the Middle East as the next phase of our international expansion strategy. We are close to finalising master franchises in Spain, South Africa and the UK,” says the retail franchise CEO, Dirk Spence.