Carrefour closes down all its stores in Bahrain as HyperMax expands


Aarti Nagraj
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French retailer Carrefour has ceased all operations in Bahrain, following the closure of its stores in Oman in January and Jordan in November.

Carrefour announced its closure in a brief post on Instagram on Sunday, saying operations ceased on September 14. No reason was provided.

The closures come as Majid Al Futtaim, which operates Carrefour in the region, announced on Monday that it would launch its flagship grocery brand HyperMax at six locations across Bahrain.

Dubai-based Majid Al Futtaim did not comment on Carrefour's decision but said its new HyperMax stores would help strengthen local supply chains.

Majid Al Futtaim is one of Dubai's biggest private sector companies and the Middle East's largest mall operator. It brought French-owned Carrefour to the region in 1995.

HyperMax has 44 locations in Jordan and Oman.

In May 2013, Majid Al Futtaim Holding bought a 25 per cent minority stake from Carrefour Group in its hypermarket business for €530 million. At the same time, the Dubai company extended its exclusive franchise partnership with Carrefour until 2025.

Majid Al Futtaim Retail currently holds the exclusive rights to operate Carrefour across 12 markets in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, with a network of more than 390 stores, according to its website.

The company also operates Supeco, a low-cost hybrid grocery retail model that combines a traditional supermarket with a wholesale warehouse, across 17 locations in Egypt.

Majid Al Futtaim said HyperMax is partnering with more than 250 Bahraini farmers, producers and suppliers, and will operate with more than 1,600 employees.

The retail sector across the Middle East and North Africa is expanding, especially in the Gulf, where sales are forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 4.6 per cent to reach $386.9 billion in 2028, from $309.6 billion in 2023, Alpen Capital said in a report last year.

The growth is expected to be supported by an increase in population, rise in per capita income and boost in tourism activities, Alpen added.

Profile

Name: Carzaty

Founders: Marwan Chaar and Hassan Jaffar

Launched: 2017

Employees: 22

Based: Dubai and Muscat

Sector: Automobile retail

Funding to date: $5.5 million

At a glance

Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.

 

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Favourite book: Asking for my favourite book has to be one of the hardest questions. However a current favourite would be Sidewalk by Mitchell Duneier

Favourite place to travel to: Any walkable city. I also love nature and wildlife 

What do you love eating or cooking: I’m constantly in the kitchen. Ever since I changed the way I eat I enjoy choosing and creating what goes into my body. However, nothing can top home cooked food from my parents. 

Favorite place to go in the UAE: A quiet beach.

Boulder shooting victims

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• Rikki Olds, 25
• Tralona Bartkowiak, 49
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• Jody Waters, 65

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Faf du Plessis (captain), Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock (wicketkeeper), Theunis de Bruyn, AB de Villiers, Dean Elgar, Heinrich Klaasen (wicketkeeper), Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Morne Morkel, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Vernon Philander and Kagiso Rabada.

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Man of the match: Ilkay Gundogan (Man City)

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MATCH INFO

Day 2 at Mount Maunganui

England 353

Stokes 91, Denly 74, Southee 4-88

New Zealand 144-4

Williamson 51, S Curran 2-28

Brief scores:

Manchester United 4

Young 13', Mata 28', Lukaku 42', Rashford 82'

Fulham 1

Kamara 67' (pen),

Red card: Anguissa (68')

Man of the match: Juan Mata (Man Utd)

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Directed by: RS Prasanna
Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Bhumi Pednekar

The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre 6-cyl turbo

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Price: from Dh285,000

On sale: from January 2022 

Indoor Cricket World Cup - Sept 16-20, Insportz, Dubai

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The biog

Name: Younis Al Balooshi

Nationality: Emirati

Education: Doctorate degree in forensic medicine at the University of Bonn

Hobbies: Drawing and reading books about graphic design

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This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.

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Dubai College A 50-12 Dubai College B

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Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi

From: Dara

To: Team@

Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT

Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East

Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.

Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.

I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.

This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.

It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.

Uber on,

Dara

Results

5pm: Warsan Lake – Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 2,200m; Winner: Dhaw Al Reef, Sam Hitchcott (jockey), Abdallah Al Hammadi (trainer) 

5.30pm: Al Quadra Lake – Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Mrouwah Al Gharbia, Sando Paiva, Abubakar Daud 

6pm: Hatta Lake – Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: AF Yatroq, George Buckell, Ernst Oertel 

6.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup – Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Ashton Tourettes, Adries de Vries, Ibrahim Aseel 

7pm: Abu Dhabi Championship – Listed (PA) Dh180,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Bahar Muscat, Antonio Fresu, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami 

7.30pm: Zakher Lake – Rated Conditions (TB) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: Alfareeq, Dane O’Neill, Musabah Al Muhairi.  

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The chef's advice

Troy Payne, head chef at Abu Dhabi’s newest healthy eatery Sanderson’s in Al Seef Resort & Spa, says singles need to change their mindset about how they approach the supermarket.

“They feel like they can’t buy one cucumber,” he says. “But I can walk into a shop – I feed two people at home – and I’ll walk into a shop and I buy one cucumber, I’ll buy one onion.”

Mr Payne asks for the sticker to be placed directly on each item, rather than face the temptation of filling one of the two-kilogram capacity plastic bags on offer.

The chef also advises singletons not get too hung up on “organic”, particularly high-priced varieties that have been flown in from far-flung locales. Local produce is often grown sustainably, and far cheaper, he says.

The White Lotus: Season three

Creator: Mike White

Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell

Rating: 4.5/5

Updated: September 16, 2025, 3:21 PM