BurJuman mall set for shake-up

Many of Dubai's malls are having to rethink their tenant mix to keep up with the competition and attract punters through the door.

Shoppers in the Deira City Centre shopping mall in Dubai. Amy Leang / The National

BurJuman mall plans to scour the fashion shows of Paris, London and New York in the coming months for new international brands to "update the image" of the shopping centre.

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Last Updated: May 22, 2011

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As part of the mall's recently announced expansion to offer a large anchor grocery store, cinema and food court, Eisa Ibrahim, the general manager for the mall, also intends to replace almost a third of its shops.

Mr Ibrahim has begun to ask 100 of the mall's 360 tenants to leave within a year, but says if retailers bring an international brand to the mall, they can stay on.

"It's mainly brands that don't belong to big groups, it's mom-and-pop kind of shops and they are not helping themselves and not helping the mall," Mr Ibrahim said. "In our industry, each and every retailer should contribute by bringing some customers to the mall."

Malls are increasingly having to offer entertainment, grocery and internationally branded concepts to entice shoppers, with many small, locally based retailers being forced out in the process.

BurJuman mall, once Dubai's leading mall for luxury brands, now finds itself in one of the city's less affluent areas, competing not only with the extravagance of Dubai Mall, but local traders offering their wares often at a fraction of the price. "There are different ways to make it easy for someone to move out or make it difficult for them to stay, there are tactics," Mr Ibrahim said.

Deira City Centre, Wafi Centre and BurJuman are all "waning in popularity", according to the latest report from Jones Lang LaSalle, a property consultant.

The report predicts older malls that lack "pull" factors such as entertainment and food and beverage options will ultimately suffer and some may be converted to non-retail uses. Experts say part of the reason many malls are having to replace stores is because operators have historically chased rental yield at the expense of examining what stores work best together in the long run.

This has led to an eclectic mix of outlet in some malls, or stores that do not suit the demographics of the population they are trying to serve.

Richard Adams, a retail analyst at Verdict Research, said leasing rates could continue to inhibit the process of reworking portfolios in many of Dubai's older malls. "Once malls identify an optimum mix, parties should look to collaborate to keep the right retailers in the right locations at sustainable rental rates," he said.

To help in this evolution of the industry, the Dubai Department of Economic Development is weighing the creation of an independent information platform to track shopping trends in malls.

It would look at individual brand sales, footfall and consumers' profiles. Although BurJuman already conducts its own internal research, Mr Ibrahim said he would "welcome" such a platform to rate his mall against others.

"We look at [retailers'] sales, their participation and promotion in festivals, we do intercept studies," he said. "You get an idea what is adding to the mall and what is not adding to the mall."