Cold Stone Creamery, one of America's biggest ice cream retailers, has launched its first ice cream outlet in the UAE at the Dubai Festival City.

To celebrate its entry into the region president of Kahala-Cold Stone Lee Knowlton made a special visit to Dubai to inaugurate the new store. US Consul General in Dubai Paul Sutphin was also present on the occasion. The evening boasted a vibrant display of music and entertainment with a live VJ in attendance.

'The Middle East is an enormous market for the food sector, which was reflected by the overwhelming response to the opening of Cold Stone Creamery at DFC. We are positive that the new ice cream outlet is going to be a huge success in the region,' said general manager of Cold Stone Creamery, Middle East, Arif Ahmed.

This 1,500 square feet store located in the Festival Square, Water Front Centre adds excitement to the overall ambience of the square. 'It is like having a few minutes holiday,' narrated one of the customers when asked on his overall experience.

Cold Stone will open a further four stores in Dubai by the end of this year, starting with Al Ghurair branch in Deira, and 40 across the whole region by the end of 2008.

Cold Stone is targeting an annual turnover next year in the region of Dh32 million ($8.7 million) and aims to gain 10 per cent of the region's ice cream market by the end of 2008. By 2009, the company plans to have 25 to 30 per cent share.

It has partnered with Apparel Group, a leading retailer to bring 'The Ultimate Ice Cream Experience' to Ice Cream lovers in the Middle East.

Currently, Apparel Group operates in 10 different countries, with 30 different brands such as Bally, Tommy Hilfiger, Kenneth Cole, Nine West, The Athlete's Foot, Sketchers, Raoul and has over 350 stores in these countries.

Based in Arizona in the US, Kahala-Cold Stone reported total revenues of over Dh4.4billion last year.- TradeArabia News Service