SAUDI ARABIA'S BIGGEST GROCERY

Saudi Arabia's biggest grocery chain and closing stores. Third. You're hired! Unlikely CEO and everything. Panda Retail opened its first store in Riyadh in 1978. It merged with Al Azizia in 1994 before Savola Group bought the company in 1998. In 2009, it added 11 giant hypermarkets, helping lift revenue to over $3.5 billion by 2015. But in 2016, Panda closed. HyperPanda to shutter its stores in Dubai Festival City Mall. March 27, 2017. Add on Google. HyperPanda is set to close after trading for more than a decade at Dubai Festival City Mall. And its CEO resigned. Online shopping was pulling customers away from physical stores, and Savola posted its first quarterly loss in eight years. The following year, Panda also shut its only branch in the UAE. In late 2017, Bandar Talaat Hamouh became CEO. He spent 30 years in healthcare, leading Al Nahdi Medical and advising Saudi Arabia's Health Minister. He gave Panda what he called a full CT scan. He split the turnaround into two stages: fix the urgent problems first, then transform the business. His team restocked shelves, improved underperforming stores, and rebuilt the fresh food section. By 2019, sales were up 9%. Panda kept its stores open through COVID, expanded online ordering, stores, and introduced AI-driven pricing. By 2023, Panda had swung from a $42 million loss to a $12.5 million profit. In 2025, its annual revenue had reached over $3 billion. By 2025, Panda was planning more than 20 new stores, all funded with its own cash. Its loyalty program had grown to over 10 million members. The company signed a food security partnership with Egypt's government, and is planning a potential IPO.