On Sportswear Opens First UAE Store With 9 More Gulf Locations Planned

What happened

Swiss performance sportswear brand On — co-founded with the backing of tennis legend Roger Federer — has opened its first physical retail location in the United Arab Emirates, marking the label's formal entry into the Gulf's brick-and-mortar market. The debut store arrives against a backdrop of broader regional uncertainty, yet On is pressing ahead with an assertive expansion blueprint.

Rather than treating the UAE opening as a tentative test, On has signalled a commitment to scaling rapidly across the Gulf Cooperation Council, with plans to open a further nine stores in the region. The move reflects a broader pattern among premium global sports and lifestyle brands that continue to view the Gulf — and the UAE in particular — as a resilient, high-spending consumer market worth prioritising even when geopolitical conditions are unsettled.

Why it matters

For customer-experience and service-design practitioners, On's Gulf push is a case study in brand confidence as a CX signal. When a premium label opens physical stores during a period of regional tension rather than retreating to digital-only channels, it sends a deliberate message to local consumers: we believe in you as an audience, and we are prepared to invest in a full, embodied brand experience rather than a hedged one. That posture shapes customer perception before a single shoe is tried on.

From a behavioural-economics standpoint, the decision also leverages commitment and consistency: announcing nine further openings alongside the inaugural store creates a public pledge that raises the stakes of the relationship with Gulf consumers. Shoppers who are aware of that pipeline are more likely to perceive On as a long-term partner in the market rather than an opportunistic pop-up — a distinction that drives loyalty and justifies the premium price point the brand commands.

By the numbers

• 1 flagship UAE store now open, representing On's first owned physical retail presence in the Gulf.
• 9 additional Gulf stores planned as part of the brand's regional expansion roadmap.

The Renascence take

Most coverage of this opening will focus on the Federer association and the geopolitical timing. What deserves more attention is the store-as-commitment-device — and what that means for how Gulf consumers will emotionally calibrate their relationship with On from day one.

Physical retail in a high-uncertainty environment is not simply a distribution decision; it is a trust signal that digital channels cannot replicate at the same intensity. On is essentially making a public, costly bet on Gulf consumers, and behavioural research consistently shows that people reciprocate perceived investment with loyalty. The risk for On is not the geopolitical backdrop — it is whether the in-store experience is differentiated enough to justify the premium and sustain the promise implied by a ten-store pipeline. Customer-obsessed operators entering the Gulf right now should ask themselves: is our store experience so distinct that it earns the right to the loyalty we are implicitly requesting?