After two years of construction and planning, Bahrain City Centre, the country's largest mall, opened for business yesterday. The shopping centre, built by Majid Al Futtaim (MAF) Shopping Malls, a developer based in Dubai, aims to attract more than 15 million shoppers in its first year of business, and will pave the way for 2,000 new jobs. The Dh1.84 billion (US$500m) complex has more than 350 shops on 150,000 square metres of gross leasable area, featuring local and international retail brands including SAKS Fifth Avenue, H&M, Debenhams, Zara and Aizone. It also includes a 20-screen cinema and a Carrefour hypermarket.
Bahrain City Centre is the latest development from MAF Shopping Malls, the developer of the Mall of the Emirates and Deira City Centre in Dubai, along with additional regional and community centres in the UAE, Oman and Egypt. "It is a very large centre, the second-largest in our portfolio after Mall of the Emirates in fact, and we are very proud of it," said Shahram Shamsaee, the senior vice president of retail for MAF Shopping Malls. "It is a market outside of Dubai, which is our home base, so it is a great challenge for us and a great accomplishment."
The mall held its soft opening yesterday and the owners said it would be fully operational by early next year. "What people see today is just the initial offering of what will ultimately be the crown jewel of Bahrain's retail, leisure and entertainment by 2009," said Derek Rossel, the general manager of Bahrain City Centre. "But even now, visitors will get a glimpse of the spectacular and unparalleled experiences they can come to expect."
Located just minutes from the King Fahd Causeway, which connects Bahrain to Saudi Arabia, officials expect that the centre will cater for a large number of weekend Saudi tourists. Last year, retail sales in Bahrain were estimated at $400m, according to Business Intelligence Middle East, placing it regionally behind Saudi Arabia, Dubai and Kuwait. The kingdom's gross leasable area is expected to reach 600,000 square metres by 2010.
vsalama@thenational.ae
