Lulu Group has closed all its hypermarket operations in Malaysia, citing underperformance, The Edge reported.
“Our retail division has closed, but the wholesale division will remain,” said the company.
The closure follows months of clearance sales and promotions, culminating in a public notice at Lulu’s first Malaysian outlet at CapSquare in Kuala Lumpur, announcing the end of operations.
Lulu entered the Malaysian retail market in 2016 with ambitious plans to invest US$3 million to open 10 hypermarkets within five years. At its peak, the company ran six stores, with its most recent outlet opening in Johor Bahru in October 2022.
However, observers have suggested that poor location choices contributed to the chain’s underperformance.
People commenting on platforms like Reddit pointed out that Lulu chose malls in the Klang Valley with historically low foot traffic, including Jakel KL, Amerin Mall, and 1 Shamelin Mall.
“If they had opened in more popular or high-traffic malls, the outcome could have been very different,” one user remarked.
Lulu’s exit from Malaysian retail mirrors similar activity in Indonesia. According to local outlets Bisnis Indonesia and Tempo, Lulu closed its store at QBig BSD City in Banten province at the end of April, following a similar pattern of promotional sales ahead of its departure.
Lulu Group International is a UAE-based multinational conglomerate headquartered in Abu Dhabi. Founded in 2000 by MA Yusuff Ali, the group operates the Lulu Hypermarket chain across the Middle East, Asia and beyond. Its Indian headquarters are located in Kochi, Kerala.
