Coffee, food, UAE flags and face paint were setting the tills ringing in Mall of the Emirates yesterday.
The busiest shopping day over the extended break was Sunday, shopkeepers said.
Big ticket items may not have been at the forefront of people’s minds but anything in UAE colours was causing a queue.
“There have been many people in the mall buying the temporary tattoo transfers,” said a Hallmark employee who asked that his name not be used. “The tattoos were of the UAE flag with ‘I love the UAE’ in the middle. We have actually sold out. They were very popular with the children and the ladies, so many ladies bought them, we must have sold 50 just this morning.”
Even the upmarket coffee brand Nespresso harnessed the patriotic fervour, selling coffee pods in the colours of the flag and with 42 printed on the front.
“It’s supposed to be the flag. It’s been selling really well. The pack includes vanilla, capriccio and ristretto in white, green and black, people love it,” said a sales clerk at Nespresso. “The Emiratis have been buying it mostly for the past two days but it has been bought by everyone. The ‘42’ on the front with the three different colours and flavours means you can either keep it as a souvenir of when we won the Expo or drink it.”
The National Day holiday gave mall visitors a chance to look at the new development planned for Falcon City, as the proposed construction model has extended its stay in the mall for an extra week thanks to increased interest.
“The National Day has been very busy and ever since the Expo has been announced we have been busy,” said a sales clerk on the stand.
“We arrived in the mall 10 days ago and now we have extended the stand here for an extra week. It has been 30 per cent to 40 per cent busier after the Expo announcement than before. Now we will see whether people will actually buy the villas and apartments, at the moment it’s just people talking.”
ascott@thenational.ae
