The Dubai-listed retailer Marka has announced that nine new Cheeky Monkeys Playland & Sweet Surprises will open in Saudi Arabia over the next five years.
The children’s entertainment centres will open as part of a franchise agreement in the kingdom. The expansion is Cheeky Monkeys’ first international venture in Dammam, Jeddah and Riyadh.
“This franchise expansion underlines our commitment to strengthening the presence of our brands not only in the UAE, but also across the GCC region,” said Nick Peel, the chief executive of Marka.
He said that Saudi Arabia’s demographic of a young, growing population lent itself to the ethos of Cheeky Monkeys.
“The high demand for children’s ‘edutainment’ has enabled us to expand the scope of Cheeky Monkeys, and we are excited about the prospect of partnering with a leading franchising company in Saudi Arabia to further expand our retail network.”
The regional franchise expansion follows the launch of Cheeky Monkeys’ venue at Al Naeem Mall in Ras Al Khaimah, the first time the “Play. Learn. Celebrate” initiative has debuted anywhere outside the emirate of Dubai.
Marka announced plans last week for a Dh250 million bond sale looking to raise money for further acquisitions.
The announcement came as Marka reported a loss of Dh56.9m for the period from June 2014 to last December, following a buying spree in which the greenfield company snapped up Retailcorp, a unit of Istithmar World; a majority stake in Cheeky Monkeys; the restaurant chain Reem Al Bawadi; and the sports memorabilia company Icons.
ascott@thenational.ae
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Analysis
Members of Syria's Alawite minority community face threat in their heartland after one of the deadliest days in country’s recent history. Read more
FIXTURES
Monday, January 28
Iran v Japan, Hazza bin Zayed Stadium (6pm)
Tuesday, January 29
UAEv Qatar, Mohamed Bin Zayed Stadium (6pm)
Friday, February 1
Final, Zayed Sports City Stadium (6pm)
Score
Third Test, Day 1
New Zealand 229-7 (90 ov)
Pakistan
New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat
Six tips to secure your smart home
Most smart home devices are controlled via the owner's smartphone. Therefore, if you are using public wi-fi on your phone, always use a VPN (virtual private network) that offers strong security features and anonymises your internet connection.
Keep your smart home devices’ software up-to-date. Device makers often send regular updates - follow them without fail as they could provide protection from a new security risk.
Use two-factor authentication so that in addition to a password, your identity is authenticated by a second sign-in step like a code sent to your mobile number.
Set up a separate guest network for acquaintances and visitors to ensure the privacy of your IoT devices’ network.
Change the default privacy and security settings of your IoT devices to take extra steps to secure yourself and your home.
Always give your router a unique name, replacing the one generated by the manufacturer, to ensure a hacker cannot ascertain its make or model number.
<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html" charset="UTF-8" /></head><body><!--PSTYLE=* Labels%3aFH Label 18 Sport--><p>Beach soccer</p><!--PSTYLE=BY Byline--><p>Amith Passela</p><p /></body></html>
RESULT
Bayern Munich 5 Eintrracht Frankfurt 2
Bayern: Goretzka (17'), Müller (41'), Lewandowski (46'), Davies (61'), Hinteregger (74' og)
Frankfurt: Hinteregger (52', 55')
