When we started PopBazaar, we weren't sure how much appetite there was for a physical manga store in the UAE. We'd felt the demand ourselves — we were the customers before we were the sellers — but turning that into a real business felt like a risk.
What we found surprised us in the best way.
The community is massive
Anime and manga fans in the UAE are everywhere — Emirati, expat, South Asian, Arab, East Asian. The fandom in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, and across all seven emirates is genuinely diverse in a way that reflects the country itself. Dubai Anime and Manga conventions draw thousands of attendees. Instagram communities are active and passionate. The anime community in the UAE is one of the most engaged in the region.
Physical manga in Dubai and the UAE is underserved
Despite the size of the community, access to physical manga has always been patchy. A few bookshops carry some titles, but they're rarely current, rarely complete, and often priced at full import rates. The demand for affordable, in-stock manga in Dubai and across the UAE was real — we just needed to meet it.
People want to collect
There's something about holding the book in your hands that streaming can't replicate. Our customers across Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Sharjah aren't just reading — they're building shelves, completing series, treating their collections as something meaningful.
The younger generation is driving it
A huge portion of our customer base in the UAE is 16–25 year olds who grew up watching anime on streaming platforms and are now discovering the source material. They're excited, knowledgeable, and engaged.
We're glad we took the leap. The manga and anime community in the UAE deserves a store that takes it seriously. We're going to keep building one.
