The Annual RetailME Awards 2019

Dubai 24th  October 2019:  The Annual Images RetailME Awards, celebrated some of the region’s most outstanding achievements in retail at a gala ceremony on 15th October 2019 at Le Méridien Hotel & Conference Centre, Dubai UAE. 

Images RetailME Awards honour excellence across a range of retail categories, turning the spotlight on the best performing retailers in the region and benchmarking best practices in this vibrant industry. 

Among the winners in 21 diverse categories were; LIWA TRADING ENTERPRISES for the most admired Middle East Retailer of the Year; the most admired Retail Personality of the year was won by FAHAD AL OTHAIM and JUMBLE for the most admired Rising Star Retailer of the Year.

SPLASH won in the Fashion category; ALDO in Footwear & Accessories; THE CHILDREN’S PLACE for Children’s wear; NAYOMI in Lingerie & Nightwear category; and CALVIN KLEIN in Luxury. 6TH STREET was named as the most admired Online Retailer of the year. 

E-CITY won in the Consumer Electronics category; FUN CITY in the Leisure & entertainment category; ZOOM in the Food & Grocery category and ZAATAR W ZEIT  in Food Service category. LIFE PHARMACY was named as the most admired Pharmacy & Healthcare retailer; AURA won in the Home & Housewares category; and FAHAD AL SHIBINI – DANUBE, RIYADH won an award for the most admired store Manager of the Year. 

M’OISHI (w), MR DRAPER (1 r/up), ITS HER WAY (2 r/up) were named as Most Admired Startup of the Year.  SPLASH (w), DUBAI DUTY FREE (r/up) won the Responsible Retailer of the Year. FABYLAND (w) SHARJAH COOP (r/up), for Store Design of the Year: Food & Leisure;  CENTREPOINT (w), STEVE MADDEN (r/up)  for Store Design of the Year: Fashion & Lifestyle and NESPRESSO (w), ZOOM (r/up) won for the Most Admired Brand Campaign of the Year.  (Full list of winners provided below) 

On the red carpet of the RetailME Awards, Monique Balchin and Lisa Dijkman set the mood for the celebration with their mystical performances. Tom Urquhart, well-known in Dubai’s media circuit and a talented broadcaster, anchored the awards.

Amitabh Taneja Chairman and Managing Director of the Images Group said, “We at Images RetailME believe that awards give you tremendous encouragement from the industry to continue to do good work; no matter how young or old you are. We thank every member of our jury for sparing the time and effort to evaluate the submissions and compile the results. We thank all participants and congratulate the finalists and the ultimate awardees.” 

“A big thanks to all our partners for supporting this event – Interstore│Schweitzer, ZOOM, Adapty, Dalma Mall, Xpandretail, SAP, RedSeer Consulting, LPFLEX Zebra Technologies, Idea Spice Design, Gia (awards partner) and Crowe (results partner).”

The submissions were evaluated and judged by an eminent jury panel. The  independent Jury Panel included; Amna Abbas, Senior Analyst, Euromonitor International; Hatahal Saad Alutaibi, CEO, Alandalus Property Company; Jerzy Osika, Owner & CEO, Promedia, Poland, Kristine Lasam, Head of Branding and Integrated Marketing, Accenture Interactive; and Phil McArthur, Founder & Managing Director, McArthur +Company. 

The jury for the presentation based categories comprised Bernhard Heiden, Chief Strategy Officer, Schweitzer Group; Jerzy Osika, Owner & CEO , Promedia, Poland; Kristine Lasam, Head of Branding and Integrated Marketing , Accenture Interactive; and Mohammad Alawi, Chairman, SAHAT property Management Co. 

The event was presented by Images RetailME magazine, the most widely read trade retail publication in the Middle East.