Grand Stores

Grand Stores

Grand Stores was founded in 1981 as the operational and investment nexus for the business interests of Sheikh Faisal bin Sultan Al Qassimi, the patriarch of the Al Qassimi family, and the Abu Issa family. The firm is anchored in Dubai and operates as a corporate investor rather than a pure liquidity management office, with the families' wealth generation historically tied to the distribution and retail of global luxury, consumer electronics, and imaging brands across the United Arab Emirates. Sheikh Mohammed bin Faisal Al Qassimi now chairs the entity, while Mohamed Abu Issa serves as Managing Director, maintaining multi-generational governance across the two allied families. The firm's investment posture blends operating business control with direct real asset ownership. Its operating arm covers perfumes, cosmetics, skincare, luggage, linen, and dinnerware, alongside licensed distribution for imaging and information technology brands. The firm is perhaps best known for its long-standing partnership with Nikon, operating Nikon-branded retail spaces like the Nikon Photo Gallery at the Grand Mercure Airport Hotel in Garhoud. Grand Stores concentrates its activity in the UAE, with infrastructure assets serving both domestic retail logistics and potential third-party tenants at Dubai Investments Park and Dubai World Central. Grand Stores operates from its headquarters in Al Garhoud and maintains an industrial real estate portfolio including logistics facilities in two major Dubai free zones. The firm's retail footprint extends across multiple UAE locations, and it has been a consistent participant in the Dubai Service Excellence Scheme. Sheikh Mohammed bin Faisal Al Qassimi also chairs Faisal Holding LLC and United Arab Bank, embedding Grand Stores within a broader financial and industrial ecosystem. The families direct philanthropic capital through the Noor Dubai Foundation and Taawon, reflecting a structured separation between charitable and commercial activities. Unlike a single-family office managing post-exit liquidity, Grand Stores operates as an active holding company still deeply integrated with the underlying operating businesses. The continued co-leadership of the Al Qassimi and Abu Issa families—with family members in both executive and board roles—creates an unusual dual-family governance architecture for an entity of its scale, avoiding the typical single-patriarch concentration model seen across many Gulf family offices.