First official NBA Store in the Middle East opens in Qatar

The new store is 162 square-meters and will feature NBA apparel such as t-shirts, footwear, headwear, basketballs and other basketball-related merchandise.

By JACOB GOFF KLEIN
Updated: JANUARY 15, 2018 12:49
A basketball fan wearing a LeBron James T-shirt at the NBA store in Miami. (photo credit: REUTERS)
A basketball fan wearing a LeBron James T-shirt at the NBA store in Miami.
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Three-time National Basketball Association (NBA) all-star Richard Hamilton, NBA EMEA vice president of global merchandising Vandana Balachandar and Al Mana sports division general manager Tom Foley attended the opening of the first NBA store in the Middle East on Sunday in Doha Festival City, Qatar.
, Balachandar says that the Qatar market is a key player for basketball officials world-wide and hopes the Qatar opening will act as a catalyst for other markets in the Middle East.
She added, “Doha specifically is the market where people showed lot of interest... a lot of people playing the sport and people buying our merchandise and our partnership with beIN Sports," makes Doha the "perfect place to launch our store in the region.”
“Our first NBA Store in the region will meet the growing demand that Qatari fans have for authentic NBA products,” she claimed.
Foley said, “With the support of the NBA, we have managed to bring this concept to Qatar. The store has great merchandise and delivers the real NBA experience, which will inspire the Qatari basketball consumer.”
Hamilton said they are, “Excited to be in Qatar and happy to have the opportunity to open this store. It’s heartening to see how the game has spread globally, the excitement from fans all over the world, shows that the game has evolved.”
The new store is 162 square-meters and will feature NBA apparel such as t-shirts, footwear, head wear, basketballs and other basketball-related merchandise. Fans will be able to purchase replicas of the Jerseys worn by their favorite players from the United States and the store will feature special youth apparel and interactive zones.