Competition between malls in Dubai will grow ever more intense as new projects come on stream, and existing shopping centres will have to come up with fresh ideas to keep market share, says a leading retail executive. Emaar Properties will launch the world's largest shopping mall in October, and several other ambitiously large projects will also open their doors in the next few years.
As a result, older malls will have to adapt, said Tom Miles, the general manager of retail at Dubai Festival City (DFC), one of the UAE's largest mixed-use developments. "This is a very dynamic market and if we want to survive, we have to keep reinventing ourselves," said Mr Miles. He believed the market would eventually become saturated, although this could take some time. "When that happens is the billion-dirham question," he said.
"But for the time being, it's going to be a dogfight when Dubai Mall opens and we are prepared to stand our ground and fight them like crazy." The DFC therefore had begun a redevelopment to meet the challenge. "We are planning to increase our number of shops from 370 to 600 by the end of next year, but it's not really about how many shops you have in a mall, it's about the variety of stores," said Mr Miles. A new addition to the mall will be an indoor gold souq, with tenants who were lured away from other jewellery precincts.
"We will be bringing 40 stores that already exist in the Dubai Gold Souq inside the mall," said Mr Miles. He said the retailers were enticed by the DFC's offer to assist with the branding and marketing of their products, and the promise of professionally designed shops. The foot traffic through the mall was an additional attraction to gold traders. "On a Friday, we attract about 70,000 people and that means a lot of business for the gold traders." Mr Miles said that by the end of the year, the centre would also have a stage floating on the canal adjacent to the mall where artists and musicians would regularly perform, and shoppers could watch from a surrounding terraced area.
"We want to be a place where people can do more than just buy a pair of jeans. We want them to experience a unique type of entertainment," said Mr Miles. @Email:abakr@thenational.ae
