Abu Dhabi // Shoppers sleeping on the floor before opening time and staff unable to cope with the influx of bargain hunters - Abu Dhabi went retail mad as Yas Mall’s 24-hour shopping experiment led to its busiest ever weekend.
“There was no space to move or to sit; the number of visitors roaming around was incredible,” said Ahmad Al Lamy, from Dubai.
“There were a lot of people sitting on the floors and even sleeping at one point.”
Chzarina Uy, a hotel worker who lives in Dubai, had also travelled to Abu Dhabi for the ‘Mega Sale’.
“We couldn’t walk around or sit anywhere,” she said.
“I heard about the buy-one-get-one-free-offer at Michael Kors, but due to overcrowding we weren’t able to enter the store and the management eventually shut the doors. I couldn’t get the chance to see any of the discounts”.
Overcrowded stores weren’t the only complaint. Promises of overnight shopping and huge discounts drew in tens of thousands of people, although some said they felt the price cuts had been oversold.
“Where are the sales? I couldn’t find anything,” said Tala, an undergraduate student at Zayed University. Fellow resident Deena said there was “nothing to find in the sales and there are clothes all over the floor.”
Fadia Abdel Karim, from Lebanon, spent 90 minutes trying to park her car at 10.30am on Sunday, and then was underwhelmed at the discounts on offer.
“The only things discounted by 90 per cent was stock that was at least two years old,” she said.
“While many shops claimed to have sales, there seemed to be very little stock discounted.”
Bricks and mortar retailers across the UAE have struggled with weakening consumer confidence this year. Employment uncertainty and the rise of e-commerce players has led to has led to dwindling returns for many.
But despite the complaints of some shoppers, businesses say the past few days marked a huge boost for business.
Although the total number of visitors over Eid is yet to be calculated, Firoz Ali Khan, operations manager of Fun Works, said visitor numbers were huge.
“We had around 12,000-15,000 thousand on Sunday and we are expecting those numbers to double today. On a normal weekend we usually have 4,000 to 6,000 visitors.
“We have never had this many visitors in the history of Fun Works, this is a new experience for us and due to the 24-hour event and promotions.”
Mery Ann, manager of clothing store Promod, said “Yesterday was extremely busy, we weren’t expecting it to happen. This was the first time in the history of Promod that we had around 8,500 visitors and made 2,000 sales in one day”.
Andy Lee, business director for Hamleys, said he was “amazed at the success of the sale.”
“We did 20 per cent more business than I was expecting. He started forming at 8.30am on Sunday with the sale only due to start at 10am.
“I have never seen the mall so busy. We had a really good day. I was surprised because the UAE’s retailers have had a very challenging year and many of the discounts have already been offered throughout the year just to get people into the stores. I was concerned shoppers would have ‘discount fatigue’ but it seems not.”
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
Is it worth it? We put cheesecake frap to the test.
The verdict from the nutritionists is damning. But does a cheesecake frappuccino taste good enough to merit the indulgence?
My advice is to only go there if you have unusually sweet tooth. I like my puddings, but this was a bit much even for me. The first hit is a winner, but it's downhill, slowly, from there. Each sip is a little less satisfying than the last, and maybe it was just all that sugar, but it isn't long before the rush is replaced by a creeping remorse. And half of the thing is still left.
The caramel version is far superior to the blueberry, too. If someone put a full caramel cheesecake through a liquidiser and scooped out the contents, it would probably taste something like this. Blueberry, on the other hand, has more of an artificial taste. It's like someone has tried to invent this drink in a lab, and while early results were promising, they're still in the testing phase. It isn't terrible, but something isn't quite right either.
So if you want an experience, go for a small, and opt for the caramel. But if you want a cheesecake, it's probably more satisfying, and not quite as unhealthy, to just order the real thing.
MATCH INFO
Fulham 0
Aston Villa 3 (Grealish 4', Hourihane 15', Mings 48')
Man of the match: Jack Grealish (Aston Villa)
Tuesday's fixtures
Kyrgyzstan v Qatar, 5.45pm
UAE%20ILT20
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