Road repairs affect retailers

The ongoing road works outside Abu Dhabi mall have caused sales of retail outlets in the mall to drop significantly.

ABU DHABI // Traffic jams from road works on Salam Street are deterring shoppers from visiting Abu Dhabi Mall, causing its stores to suffer significant drops in sales. Clerks and managers said sales have fallen by more than 25 per cent since construction began on the street, as traffic being rerouted in front of the mall caused delays and jams. Customers were few and far between and the underground car park was more than half empty yesterday. Saturdays are usually busy shopping days.

Rachid Labyad, the supervisor at the furniture store 2XL, said: "It was not like this before. Sales have decreased 20 to 30 per cent." Mr Labyad said January was normally a season of discounts and sales, but his store's price cuts were more than twice what they would normally be. "Before the discounts would be 10 per cent, but now they're 20 per cent because we have to increase sales," he said. "We are worried."

Mr Labyad said a few customers were still milling about the mall on weekends but weekdays were dead. "And on the weekend, nobody is buying." He said if the slow sales were to continue, staff cuts would be considered. At the Sunglass Hut, Seloua Nouiti, a sales clerk, said her commission payments have fallen by about 25 per cent. "We're worried about it. It's not like before. It's still good but there is a difference."

Ahmed Fauzy, the assistant manager at Kenneth Cole, said his store was reducing its prices by 25 to 75 per cent. "The traffic is the number one problem," Mr Fauzy said. "Also because of the banks and the US, but it's the traffic mainly." Louisa Snyders, a resident from South Africa, said she would hesitate before shopping at the mall again after the problems she has had travelling there. "I took the bus and it took me half an hour to go around the block. I could have walked off and got around the construction," Mrs Snyders said.

Before the construction began it took her 10 minutes to travel to the mall. Yesterday it took more than 40 minutes. "The bus also had to park on the other side of the road because so many cars were parked illegally," Mrs Snyders said. "This is the second time I've tried coming here and I'll think twice before doing it again. I'll go to Al Wahda or Marina Mall instead." Traffic on the street has been chaotic since work started last month. Two-way streets suddenly became one-way and roundabouts were sectioned off for a new expressway.

The work is part of a Dh5 billion (US$1.36bn) project to double the street's capacity, to 6,000 cars an hour. It is expected to continue until the end of next year. When completed, Salam Street will have up to five lanes and no traffic lights between the Meena area and Sheikh Zayed Bridge. It will also have a tunnel, below-level intersections and flyovers. Salam is one of the busiest streets in the capital, and the work was deemed necessary to accommodate the developments on nearby Reem Island.

Yesterday Abu Dhabi Municipality issued a statement saying the project was on schedule. It said steps were being taken to reduce the problems the road closings were causing. Dates for further closings along Salam Street are expected to be released to the public soon. [e-mail]