The fall of the mall?

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Visitors are expected to be drawn to the Dubai Mall by the record-breaking aquarium display.

At the end of 2007, there were 1.5 million sq m of gross leasable area (GLA) in Dubai malls. This will double to 3 million sq m by the end of 2010.

A mall's success is usually measured by its footfall, an industry measure for the number of visitors it attracts.

Gally believes this may remain at high levels despite all the retail space that is coming on stream. It is the average spend per head that could suffer.

Still, the Dubai Mall will have the benefit of an array of new brands that are likely to spark curiosity among shoppers.

Hamley's, the famous London toy store that has been popular with Gulf tourists in the UK capital for years, is one of the brands making its Middle Eastern debut.

The Dubai store will replicate elements of its sister store in London: toy demonstrators and magicians will be on hand and customers are invited to test toys before buying.

Other features include a life sized doll house and an imitation streetscape of London's Regent Street.

Waitrose, the upscale British retailer that competes on quality and customer service rather than price, is likely to be a favourite with UK expats.

The chain's first outlet overseas is the mall's anchor supermarket and the largest in the $20bn Downtown Burj Dubai development.

The UK stores are owned by its employees, who share in the profit.

This has given the chain and its parent, The John Lewis Partnership, significantly higher staff retention rates than its competitors and a reputation for knowledgeable staff.

The first Dubai store, which will carry a selected range of non-food John Lewis products, will be followed by a second one in the Dubai Marina towards the end of the year.

Among the malls' non-retail attractions is The Dubai Ice Rink, a multi-purpose venue with a year-round events calendar both on and off the ice.

Permanent seating is provided for 350 spectators but larger audiences can be accommodated with temporary stands.

For non-ice events, the ice rink is designed to convert into a multi-functional hall supported by a high-tech multimedia system - it is overlooked by a 20 metre by 10 metre high-definition LED display.

The development is staking its claim to be the most high-tech shopping mall in the world.

The indoor Gold Souk features a 22 metre wide Treasury Dome, capable of projecting images similar to a planetarium, and the Fashion Avenue precinct will include a fully retractable LED-clad catwalk.

The Dubai Aquarium is one of the largest indoor aquariums in the world of its kind and has the capacity to hold 10 million litres of water.

Duncan James, strategy director at The Brand Union in the Middle East, believes Dubai malls will increasingly seek to differentiate themselves through non-retail attractions, such as ski slopes, aquariums and ice rinks.

"I think that trend will increase in all of the bigger malls," he says.

He has yet to visit the Dubai Mall, but says the name alone could be an asset as Dubai retailers jostle for position.

"The name is quite intelligent because it reframes everything else," he says. "It's kind of saying: ‘This is THE mall in Dubai. This is the one to go to.'"

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READERS' COMMENTS

Where is the big deal
Posted by Martin, Dubai, UAE on Sunday 16 November 2008 at 00:52 UAE time


I cannot imagine that the spending will increase it will just divert from other malls to the TDM. It is nice to have everything under one roof but why is the mall so difficult to reach by foot or public bus nd at the moment even by taxi. For some brands I wonder why they are so desperate to have a store in Dubai.

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