How Kerala's Yusuff Ali made LuLu Hypermarket THE shopping destination in the Middle East

The name of Yusuff Ali Musaliam Veettil Abdul Kader, founder of UAE based Lulu Hypermarket Group, has been doing the rounds for quite some time after inauguration of Lulu shopping mall in UP's Lucknow. An Indian who established his base in UAE in 1990s, and then expanded his operations over the next two decades in 22 countries, Yusuff Ali has made a big name for himself.

A Padma Shri recipient by the government of India in 2008, Yusuff Ali's journey has been an incredible story.

Who is Yusuff Ali? Lulu Hypermarket Group owner Yusuff Ali, 66, hails from Thrissur district of Kerala. He completed his schooling in Kerala before he moved to Gujarat to pursue higher education. At the age of 18, in 1973, he left for Abu Dhabi to handle his uncle’s EMKE Group of companies.

In 2000, he founded the Lulu Hypermarket Group, which now has presence in 22 countries and covers almost entire Middle East, Asia, US and Europe. It has 235 stores in total.

What the world Lulu means and how was it established: The word Lulu, on which Yusuff Ali named his conglomerate, means 'pearl'. Noticeably, Dubai was once known for the pearl hunting industry before the oil and retailing business took over the economy of the country.  

For Yusuff, it all started amidst a turmoil in early 1990s. It was the era of Second Gulf War of 1991, a time when business owners started shifting to other countries amidst the uncertainty of the war. But Yusuff had something else in mind. He stayed back and opened biggest supermarket in Abu Dhabi. This also brought him to the notice of the UAE government which accepted him as their own.

But this didn’t happen overnight. In 1973, when Yusuff had come to Abu Dhabi to run his uncle’s business, where he was primarily doing import of canned and frozen foodstuffs, he also traveled to countries like Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia from where he got the idea of supermarkets.

In Dubai, he had noticed that there was a huge influx of people from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. He understood the need for a supermarket which would cater to the needs of the people. Therefore, he launched a supermarket after taking a loan of 25,000 dirhams from the then British Bank of Middle East. 

From supermarket to hypermarket: Yusuff’s business took off. And soon, what started as a supermarket turned into a hypermarket, and then a shopping mall. In 2000, Yusuff launched the Lulu Group International. Today, Lulu Group has 57,000 employees from 42 different countries including UAE, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, China and Sri Lanka.

As per Forbes, Yusuff Ali's net worth is $4.7 billion, which also makes him the 564th richest person in the world, The Quint reported.

Has a say in UAE government: With the establishment of Lulu Group, Yusuff came close to then UAE President Al Nahyans. Soon, he had a voice in the government too. He was instrumental in the signing of a pact between the Kerala government and Dubai-based TECOM, to build a smart city near Kochi. 

He was also a voice behind the construction of first crematorium for Hindus in Abu Dhabi. Previously, he has also intervened to grant pardon to an Indian who stayed in UAE without visa. In short, he has been a powerful facilitator between India and UAE.