Karama Market, a Dubai retail destination for imitation designer products, suffered a dip in business during the festive season as shoppers instead headed to the malls for promotional bargains.
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Ali Ahmad, a salesman at Black Cat Trading, a small handbag store in Karama, said sales had been "very bad" over the past couple of months.
"Nobody is buying anything," he said. "There are no people, no good business because no one has any money. December was very slow."
Traders said tourists, who make up a large proportion of sales for most stores in Karama, had the choice of many malls, where there was a lot of promotional activity.
"Business has stayed the same or a bit lower," said Saeed Honarvar, the general manager of Sina Trading. "[Tourists] have many more locations to go to and many people do not know about Karama Market. Some tourists know us because we have been here such a long time."
He added Karama also struggled to attract tourists because it was not close to a Metro line station, unlike many of the city's major malls.
December is usually one of the best months at the market, traders said, with some store owners reporting sales often in excess of Dh300,000 (US$81,672).
Ralph De La Vega, the manager at Jowana, said shoppers were more price-conscious, spending less and haggling more to find a bargain. "They are still spending but we are always discussing the price and they are bargaining," he said.
The market sells a whole host of imitation designer products, including handbags, watches, sunglasses and perfumes, with many sold from private rooms in the backs of stores.
In contrast, other Dubai retailers say sales have been buoyant.
Many stores have been running events and promotions in the past two months during which the country has celebrated Eid Al Adha, UAE National Day, Christmas and New Year.
Dubai Shopping Festival started last week and retail executives are confident sales will increase more than 20 per cent on last year's month-long event. Two of Dubai's major malls, Dubai Mall and Mall of the Emirates, welcomed huge numbers of visitors last year.
Dubai Mall reported a record 15 per cent increase to 54 million visitors last year compared with 2010, and Mall of the Emirates recorded a 4.5 per cent increase over the festive period compared with the previous year.
"Mall of the Emirates continues to enjoy strong sales and footfall as a result of the strong winter shopping season and the gift-giving, festive period," said Fuad Sharaf, the mall's asset director.
The sale of imitation goods is not uncommon in the UAE despite efforts by the authorities to tackle the issue.
Markets in Dubai such as Karama and DragonMart are flooded each week with fake handbags, fashion products and technology.
After China, the UAE is the second most common source of counterfeit goods in Europe. About 14.6 per cent of all fakes seized in the EU in 2009 came through the UAE, up from 12.3 per cent in 2008, according to the European Commission.
