Crate&Barrel and CB2 Open Flagship Stores in Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi is now home to a double design landmark as Crate&Barrel and CB2 opened their first flagship stores in the UAE capital, co-located side by side at Marina Mall, marking a strategic milestone in lifestyle retail for the region. At over 2,200 sqm, this is the UAE’s first dual-brand concept by the US-based home furnishings powerhouses, bringing a seamless, high-touch experience to the heart of Abu Dhabi.

While Crate&Barrel anchors its store in modern classics and understated elegance, CB2 makes a bold entrance with edgy, design-forward collections. Each store presents a distinct personality but is unified by one central idea: global design made locally accessible.

Crate&Barrel features exclusive lines curated in partnership with top interior designers like Jake Arnold, Leanne Ford, and Athena Calderone, merging form and function across kitchenware, décor, furniture, and more. CB2, on the other hand, champions boundary-pushing aesthetics, spotlighting reissued works by iconic designers such as Gianfranco Frattini and Paul McCobb, along with seasonal collections by Ross Cassidy and Kara Mann.

Both stores aim to go beyond the transactional. Customers can access complimentary in-house interior design services via The Design Desk, which is a personalised offering that includes one-on-one consultations, space planning, and 3D visualization. This initiative positions Crate&Barrel and CB2 not just as retailers, but as design partners for consumers navigating home transformations.

Adding to the lifestyle offering, Crate&Barrel’s café, Susan’s Baking Co., creates a relaxed, in-store ambience—a hospitality-laced element that encourages longer dwell times and positions the flagship as a design destination rather than a standard retail stop.

The experience extends beyond physical retail. Both brands are integrated with a robust e-commerce presence, offering features such as fast delivery, at-home assembly, and Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) services. These additions respond to the evolving expectations of the UAE consumer, digitally fluent, convenience-driven, and increasingly design-conscious.

This flagship launch comes at a time when lifestyle retail in the GCC is undergoing a high-design reformation, driven by a surge in property development, expat relocation, and luxury-led urban planning in cities like Abu Dhabi and Riyadh. For Crate&Barrel and CB2, the side-by-side flagship is a clear signal of intent to shape the future of home retail in the region through curation, convenience, and consultative design.