Union Coop, the largest consumer co-operative in the UAE, has announced that all of its branches will operate 24/7, with exceptions of Al Mamzar, Al Mizhar Mini Coop, Coop the Pointe, Al Satwa and International City.

The move comes in response to the decision of The Ministry of Health and Prevention, and National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority, to give consumers a helping hand during these challeging times so that they can now shop any time – day or night as per their convenience, said a statement from the UAE retail pioneer.

Union Coop’s Director of Happiness and Marketing Department Dr Suhail Al Bastaki said: "Our branches will operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, starting from today (March 26) to ensure that the goods are provided to the community smoothly, in response to the directives of the concerned authorities in order to overcome the Corona pandemic."

Al Bastaki said all goods will be available throughout the day and there is no need for the consumers to rush, as the strategic cooperative plans guarantee to consumers the availability of all products in huge quantities and throughout the year.

"There is absolutely no need to fear that the products will run out of stock because the co-operative and retail outlets in the country in cooperation with the competent authorities worked over the past years to build a national food stock," he stated.

"We had signed contracts worth over Dh400 million ($109 million) with suppliers, in preparation for Ramadan, which will be kept in the best storage condition prevalent at the Union Coop Warehouse – one of the largest food and non-food commodity warehouses in the Middle East," he added.-TradeArabia News Service