Cold Stone Enters Middle East

SCOTTSDALE, AZ-Cold Stone Creamery is planning an expansion into the Middle East, opening 40 stores in the next five years in Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Plans are in the works to open its first regional store, in Dubai, by May.

The entrance into the Middle Eastern market is the second expansion abroad management has revealed in the last few months. Cold Stone management in November said that it plans to open 105 stores in China and 60 units in Taiwan in the next seven years.

Cold Stone’s joint-venture partner in the Middle East is a Dubai-based firm called Apparel Group, which has partnered with such retailers as Athlete’s Foot, Kenneth Cole and Nine West for foreign locations. The company operates about 230 stores across the Middle East.