Middle East, 21 May 2009: Over 350 attendees voted live on 20th May 2009 to select winners in 22 categories – 11 retail categories, 2 distributor and 9 vendor categories. Hosted by DISTREE Events, the organisers of leading Information Communications Technology (ICT) events in the EMEA region, over 150 retailers voted for the winners in the vendor and distributor categories while a panel of 50 vendor representatives voted for the retailer categories.
“We congratulate all the winners,” said Farouk Hemraj, CEO at DISTREE Events, the awards organiser. “There were a few surprise winners but the votes reflected the level of interaction and investment in the channel by both vendors and retailers. As the organiser, we take pride in our transparency and the live counting of votes is a reflection of this. The MERA Awards set the benchmark for channel awards in the region and are an integral part of the DCC MEA experience.”
The complete list of winners:
Vendor categories
Desktop/Notebooks/Netbooks: Acer & Sony
Digital Lifestyle: Apple
Accessories: SanDisk
Peripherals & Printing: HP
LCD/Plasma TVs: Samsung
Mobile Communications: Nokia
Middle East Overall Retail Vendor of the Year: HP
Special Achievement for Outstanding Retail Channel Development: Acer
Channel Manager of the Year: Wael El Chami (HP),
Distributor categories:
Specialist retail distributor of the year: Genius Computer Technology Ltd
Volume retail distributor of the year: Redington
Retailer categories
UAE Hypermarket / Big Box Retailer of the Year: Carrefour
UAE Mall-based/Specialist Retailer of the Year: Sharaf DG
Saudi Arabia Hypermarket / Big Box Retailer of the Year: Jarir Bookstore
Saudi Arabia Mall-based / Specialist Retailer of the Year: Extra
Retailer of the Year – Rest of Gulf: Al Ghanim
Retailer of the Year – Egypt & Levant: CompuMe Egypt
Retail Executive of the Year – UAE: N.R. Ganeshan (Carrefour)
Retail Executive of the Year – Saudi Arabia: Wassim Mrad (Extra)
Retail Executive of the Year – Rest of Gulf: Hakim Amar (Al Ghanim – Kuwait)
Retail Executive of the Year – Egypt & Levant: Amr Shiera (CompuMe, Egypt)
Store concept of the Year: Emax (Oasis Centre, Dubai)
The MERA Awards were launched in 2008, creating a clear and transparent platform to recognise excellence in the region’s consumer electronics and ICT channel, with awards for vendors, distributors and retailers.
The awards are held in conjunction with DCC MEA, where pre-qualified ICT and CE retail executives from across the Middle East market will have the opportunity to review the latest products from the 50-plus vendors set to attend this year’s event. With retailers from 15-plus countries across the MEA region attending DCC MEA, the event offers vendors insight into markets across the region and the opportunity to accelerate or improve their go-to-market retail strategy.
Details on the awards are available on http://retailacademy.dcc-mea.com/.
Details on DCC MEA are available on www.dcc-mea.com.
