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When Philip Morris International chose Dubai as the home of its first multi-category IQOS Boutique in the GCC, it made a statement in the region. The city has long positioned itself as a test bed for innovation, design, and consumer culture, and the arrival of this new boutique at Dubai Mall underscores that reputation.
This isn’t the kind of retail space you wander into just to make a quick purchase. Instead, the newly reopened boutique is pitched as a full sensory experience, a place where adult smokers who would otherwise continue smoking are invited to explore PMI’s growing smoke-free portfolio in a more personal and discovery-led way. It’s an approach that taps into a broader shift we’ve seen across industries: products are important, but the experience surrounding them is what keeps people coming back.
To mark the launch, PMI partnered with Dubai-based artist Kris Balerite, known to most as Dozign. His installation, The Thread, takes the shape of an oversized friendship bracelet, woven with sadu-inspired patterns familiar to anyone who’s grown up in the Emirates or even just passed through as a visitor. It’s a reflection of the city itself – multiple cultures, different stories, all bound together into a single shared fabric. For Balerite, the piece was about capturing those everyday moments of connection that make the UAE feel like home, whether you’re local, expat, or somewhere in between.
“The UAE has established itself as a hub for innovation and forward-thinking experiences, making it a natural choice,” says Richa Rustagi, Managing Director of Lower Gulf & Iraq at PMI. Her point lands: the country has become a proving ground for new ideas and consumer concepts, and the new boutique plays directly into that narrative.
This milestone also speaks to the company’s wider ambitions. PMI has invested heavily in smoke-free products, over $14 billion since 2008, and is explicit about its goal to eventually stop selling cigarettes altogether. The Dubai store follows similar multi-category IQOS boutiques in other parts of the world, reinforcing PMI’s push to make its science-driven alternatives part of everyday consumer culture.
For now, though, the message is clear: Dubai is playing host to a reimagining of what a cigarette-free future could look like, one where design, culture, and consumer choice meet under one roof.
