It is not often that one of the Gulf’s most established home retail giants makes a move this deliberate. ABYAT’s majority stake acquisition of Mastara is not an opportunistic investment or a quiet portfolio addition. It is a considered bet on where home retail in the region is heading, and on the idea that the showroom alone is no longer enough.
Mastara has built its business around a straightforward but underserved premise: that buying custom window coverings and blinds is a decision best made at home, not in a shop. The in-home consultation model it has developed sits at the opposite end of the retail spectrum from the browse-and-buy experience most customers are used to. ABYAT, which has long excelled at the latter, is now investing in the former.
The strategic intent is clear. As ABYAT stated in its announcement, the acquisition allows the company to “extend that same level of expertise and service into our customers’ homes, while continuing to build a more connected omnichannel experience.” For a brand whose showrooms have become destinations in their own right, this is a significant expansion of what the customer journey can look like.
For Mastara’s leadership, the deal represents both validation and acceleration. Co-founder and CFO Saif Zeraatian describes it as a pivotal moment, one that “aligns us with a partner that shares our long-term vision for redefining the shop-at-home service across the GCC.” The capital base strengthens, but more consequentially, so does the reach. Markets that would have taken years to enter independently become a closer prospect with ABYAT’s infrastructure behind the model.
Partner and CMO Carly Arzeen Zandipour has watched ABYAT’s trajectory closely, and her perspective on the deal is as much personal as it is professional. “The vision was always clear,” she says. “We were building something that is premium, convenient, and embraces the future of retail across the region.” What she admires in ABYAT is not simply their size but the consistency of experience they have delivered across categories, from custom kitchens and windows to furniture and accessories. “To grow alongside such a name in the region is a very exciting moment for all of us,” she adds. “Together we’re changing the future of custom home products and the way people shop for and experience them.”
Founder and CEO Jamal S. Alfahham speaks to the larger vision the partnership makes possible: a fully integrated ecosystem where custom and standard products coexist, and where every touchpoint, from the showroom floor to the living room consultation, is designed around how customers actually make decisions about their homes.
What makes this deal worth watching is what it says about the direction of premium home retail in Kuwait and the wider Gulf. Customers are increasingly expecting the kind of service that meets them where they are, literally and figuratively. Brands that can offer both the inspiration of a world-class showroom and the precision of a personalized in-home experience will be the ones that earn lasting loyalty. ABYAT and Mastara, together, are making an early and confident move toward exactly that.
For more information, visit mastara.com and abyat.com. Follow @mastara.kw on Instagram for the latest on what Mastara has to offer.
