Poundstretcher’s imminent move into the Middle East is bold, making it the first UK value variety store to be truly international, as rivals such as Poundland and 99p Stores have only ventured as far as Ireland.

In two weeks’ time, its first store will open its doors in the lavish man-made luxury of Dubai. Launching in Madina Mall, with another six stores planned in the Middle East, Poundstretcher is obviously confident of the demand for its wares.

Speaking to Retail Week, general manager for Africa and the Middle East Cliff Lumberg explains that there was a “gap in the market” for Poundstretcher. Planet Retail analyst Manu Ghai agrees, because there are no existing similar value retailers there.

“The biggest competition Poundstretcher will have are the large format hypermarkets but nobody offers the value concept at the moment,” she says.

Explaining Poundstretcher’s reasoning for the move Lumberg says simply: “The bottom line is, we think we can make money.”

But in the home of billionaires and the Burj Khalifa - the world’s tallest building – where does such a value retailer fit in?

Ghai maintains: “Shoppers out there will look at any western brand, so they’ll definitely get Poundstretcher’s proposition. Western brands are seen as better quality out there.”

But for a retailer that is focused on low prices, Poundstretcher’s entry points will need to be carefully decided, says Ghai.

“Although they are Poundstretcher, it will need to position its prices slightly higher than the products in traditional stores or shoppers won’t buy.

“Because they are a Western brand, Middle Eastern shoppers are willing to pay for it.”

Single price-point specialsit Poundland’s chief executive Jim McCarthy has previously spoken of his long-term plans to open in Europe. However that seems to be a few years away as it researches which countries would respond best to its value proposition.

In the food sector, low price Germany-based supermarkets Aldi and Lidl have managed to successfully grow their store base across the whole of Europe, and Aldi also reached Australia, but neither have opened in the Middle East.

It seems then that most value retailers would choose to open closer to home, seeing the Middle East as a riskier move.

One source in the value retailing sector explains other retailers have not done it already because setting up a warehouse in the country would be very expensive, while relationships with product brands would need to be re-negotiated due to being sold outside the EU.

Given that Poundstretcher only returned to profit last year, the heat will be on to make the venture a success.