From the Publisher

The success and growth story of the Lulu Group, based in Abu Dhabi, founded and led by Yusuff Ali, mirrors the rise of the UAE. From very small beginnings in Abu Dhabi, before the oil boom, Lulu grew initially slowly and then accelerated sharply. The dazzling economic growth, and the UAE’s emergence as a global trading and finance hub created many opportunities and Yusuff Ali, with enterprise and skill was able to seize them. 

Of course, there were many other traders too in the UAE at the time, but only few saw the enormous possibilities in UAE, and then also in the wider GCC countries, particularly Saudi Arabia.

There were some other Indian groups that did very well too, like Choithrams and Al Maya Lal.   But other than Mickey Jagtiani’s Landmark Group, none were on the same scale as Lulu. Also, European groups like Carrefour and others came later, but even amongst them few were able to succeed, and not on the same scale or with the same range of merchandise. 

Starting with general merchandise and groceries, and then a series of stores, as the market grew Lulu built small shopping complexes, and then later malls and even bigger malls. With a growing population of foreigners coming to UAE, first to Dubai, and the growing wealth, the stores grew their range and quality of goods. And entertainment got added to the mix in the malls to attract larger number of customers every year.

This year Yusuff Ali, with Lulu celebrated its 50th year. In these years he has created an empire of 260 hypermarkets and malls across 10 different countries with sourcing offices in 24 countries and a staff of 70,000 of which 45,000 are Indians, making him one of the largest employers of Indians overseas. With an annual turnover of $8.4 billion (remember UAE has a population of 10 million), Yusuff Ali and Lulu are amongst the top business groups in the country.

Like most Indian businessmen, Yusuff Ali, was drawn to doing something at home. He decided to launch malls, first in Kerala and then started spreading to other parts of India. He has also made several farsighted investments in airports in Kerala and also acquired notable stakes in some banks. But unlike in the Gulf where he had a first mover advantage, in Indian retail there are formidable forces including Reliance, Tata’s Trent and D Mart. But now Lulu is big enough and with significant experience and skills to compete. And India as a market is big enough for several groups to carve out their own spaces successfully.

In this 50th year, Yusuff Ali has taken a major step in listing Lulu on the Abu Dhabi stock exchange. Again, this is a step that no other Indian-run company has taken in UAE.

We will be hearing a lot more about Yusuff Ali and his Lulu group in the years to come.