# Marks & Spencer to Open 15,327 sq ft Food Hall at Dubai Festival City in December

> Marks & Spencer will open its largest food hall outside the UK in Dubai in December, stocking 3,500 core products and 500 local lines across 15,327 sq ft.

- Published: 2026-11-02T05:56:42+00:00
- Section: Expansion
- Author: News Desk
- URL: https://newsforagent.com/news/2026-11-02/marks-spencer-dubai-festival-city-food-hall
- Source: [GulfNews](https://gulfnews.com/business/ms-to-bring-full-food-range-to-uae-find-out-where-1.500732263)

## Key takeaways

- Marks & Spencer will open a 15,327 sq ft food hall at Dubai Festival City in December, its largest outside the UK.
- The store will carry more than 3,500 core M&S products and 500 locally sourced lines, with fresh flowers and a patisserie making their international and Middle East debuts.
- Al-Futtaim, which signed the M&S franchise in 1997, operates the partnership that now spans nearly three decades.

Marks & Spencer will open its largest food hall outside the UK at Dubai Festival City in December, carrying the full M&S Food range for the first time outside Britain. [GulfNews](https://gulfnews.com/business/ms-to-bring-full-food-range-to-uae-find-out-where-1.500732263) reported the announcement on November 2.

## Inside the Dubai Festival City Food Hall

The 15,327 sq ft (1,424 sq m) store will hold more than 3,500 core M&S products and 500 locally sourced lines, supplied by more than 200 UK suppliers and a network of local producers across produce, protein, grocery, bakery and meal solutions. Fresh M&S flowers will make their international debut, and the Middle East will get its first M&S Patisserie. A Fruit Butcher, sushi counter, rotisserie chicken station, coffee shop and pizza oven complete the line-up.

Wassim Arabi, President of Retail at [Al-Futtaim Group](https://akta.pro/company-profiles/0005avh/al-futtaim-group), said: "The launch of this new Foodhall is an important milestone in that journey, bringing an exciting, elevated food shopping experience to our customers." Mark Lemming, Managing Director of International at [Marks & Spencer](https://akta.pro/company-profiles/00003p6/marks-spencer), said: "By bringing a broader range of M&S Food together under one roof, we can become a bigger part of our customers' everyday lives."

Al-Futtaim signed the M&S franchise in 1997, and the first Dubai store opened in Deira in 1998. In 2007, M&S built its largest store outside the UK at Dubai Festival City Mall, and a 2017 refit added an M&S Café, the brand's first table-service dining option in the region.

## Marks & Spencer's Food Division at a Glance

According to akta.pro [company records](https://akta.pro/company-data), Marks & Spencer reported £17.4 billion in sales for 52 weeks, with the food division growing 7% and now accounting for 54% of total revenues. Adjusted profit before tax fell 23.8% to £671.4 million, from £881.1 million the prior year, due to an April 2025 cyber attack. The company recorded £131 million in cyber attack response, recovery and remediation costs.

## Earlier Moves in Marks & Spencer's Expansion

In June 2026, construction of a new M&S Foodhall at Fox Valley shopping centre in north Sheffield reached a milestone with the building's steel frame in place ahead of an expected autumn opening, according to akta.pro company records. In May 2026, the company began construction on a £340 million automated National Distribution Centre in Northamptonshire, targeting a 2029 opening. In October 2026, M&S confirmed it would close its Alton Simply Food store after more than 20 years when the lease expires next January, [Express.co.uk](https://akta.pro/news-signals) reported.

## What Comes Next for the Dubai Store

The Dubai Festival City food hall is scheduled to open in December.

## Companies in this story

- [Marks & Spencer company profile](https://akta.pro/company-profiles/00003p6/marks-spencer) · website: http://www.marksandspencer.com
- [Al-Futtaim Group company profile](https://akta.pro/company-profiles/0005avh/al-futtaim-group) · website: https://www.alfuttaim.com

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