Al Ain is undergoing a mall-building boom, with four shopping centres on the way. Wahat Hili Mall, part of a development in the city's Hili district, includes a hotel and is to open in the first quarter of next year. Mohamad El Sabawi, the mall's general manager, talks about retail in the city.
What is the retail space like in Al Ain?
There are four existing shopping centres in Al Ain and there are four in the pipeline.
How does Wahat Hili Mall fit in?
It's more of a community shopping centre. We are quite fortunate to be sitting next to the largest residential complex in the whole city of Al Ain. There are no retail offerings in this part of Al Ain, so we're quite fortunate.
How is a community mall different from ones like Marina Mall?
A community mall is usually between 100,000 [and] 350,000 square foot of leasable space, [and] 80 per cent of the customers [of a community shopping mall] come in from within 5 to 7-kilometre radius. This is the primary catchment area.
What kind of shops will it include?
The mall consists of over 160 retail units that are spread over three levels … There will be the usual suspects. You will have a hypermarket in the mall. There's a food court, there is a coffee shop, restaurants, and they have the family entertainment centre and obviously a mix of fashion outlets.
What kind of retailers will you have there? Well-known brands?
It's pretty much a mix of international brands, regional brands and local brands to cater to the needs of everyone who will come and visit. We hope that will include the residents of Al Ain, the expat community, as well as hotel guests and tourists. The primary catchment or profile of the customer will be the residents who live in the surrounding area. It will cater to their everyday needs. That's where our slogan comes in, Wahat Hili Mall is your everyday destination.
Al Ain seems to be going through a building boom for shopping centres. When did that start?
It started back in 2001 when the first two shopping centres opened … being Al Ain Mall and Al Jimi Mall. The third major shopping centre opened in April 2009, and then there was the Al Ain one that was rolled out last year.
When was yours announced?
Construction started in 2008. Being part of a big project and the fact that we are paying so much attention to detail is probably one of the reasons why it's taking a bit longer than expected.
* Gillian Duncan
