DANUBE Building Materials is to open its biggest Buildmart retail showroom within a mall this month.

Set to occupy an area of 35,000 sq ft within the Dalma Mall in Abu Dhabi, the store will mark the company’s 10th retail facility in the GCC, and its fourth branch within a local shopping mall.

The move is part of the company’s Dh200 million ($54.5 million) expansion initiative, which is focused on establishing 16 branches for its flagship retail brand by the end of the year.

It follows the opening of the first Buildmart branch in India last July, and an earlier announcement that the company is looking at an initial public offering (IPO) listing in Saudi Arabia or the UAE within the next five years. In addition to growing its business in the UAE, Danube is expanding into Qatar and other parts of Saudi Arabia and Oman, as well as China where it currently has one of its major manufacturing plants.

“With the opening of our newest and biggest Buildmart situated within the mall, we are confident of the positive impact of this massive investment in our bottom line as well as to the strength of the Danube Buildmart name in the country,” said Rizwan Sajan, chairman, Danube Building Materials.

The store will offer a range of products including chandeliers, wallpaper collections, curtains, carpets, luxury sanitary ware, Venetian blinds, wooden flooring, garden accessories, home décor and soft furnishings such as quilts, mattresses, towels, and pillow covers, among others.

In addition, it will have a design centre where customers can take floor plans of their houses and get expert advice, service and design assistance from consultants.