Dubai: Palm Strip Shopping Mall, a unit of Dubai Investment Properties (DIP), has announced a surge in the number of shoppers during the first 10 days of Dubai Shopping Festival 2010. The mall has attributed this increase to the successful Shopper's Day promotion as well as the fantastic deals and discounts offered by retailers such as Angels, Donatella, Zara Home, Meeting Garments and OptiVision to name a few.
"Dubai Shopping Festival [DSF] is one of the most popular and successful events across the globe. DSF has played a key role in raising Dubai's profile within the international arena and promoting it as one of the leading retail destinations of the world. Palm Strip Shopping Mall is happy to be a part of this winning Dubai Government initiative and remains committed to contributing to DSF's success," Mohammad Ahmad, general manager at DIP, said in a statement yesterday.
DSF promotions at Palm Strip Shopping Mall will continue until February 28.
Palm Strip Shopping Mall has been home to flagship stores of high-profile brands such as Zara Home, Makeup Etc, Elite Fashion, Meeting Garments, Frost, Angels, Japengo, Kubra Al Qaseer, Rasasi Perfumes and Duwais Jewellery to name a few.
BurJuman is offering unprecedented discounts across its retail shops that include an enticing mix of over 300 luxury and high street brands, and a variety of exciting promotions that are luring in both residents and tourists.
For BurJuman retailers like watch specialists Hour Choice, the annual shopping festival's timing is just perfect.
"DSF has definitely brought in the tourists this month," said Ronaldo Gomes, store manager. "We've seen at least a 30 per cent improvement in sales compared to the pre-festival period."
This year, Gomes has also observed a growing number of Chinese shoppers. "They are actually our biggest customers this year, even ahead of other Asians such as Indians and Filipinos," he added. "They say the prices here are lower to other shopping centres in Asia."
Even on a slow day, bargain hunters are trooping to BurJuman to take advantage of the many discount offers. Regular DSF shopper Amina Al Awadi from Kuwait says she never fails to shop at BurJuman during DSF. "Shopping is great and even the most high-end fashion brands offer substantial discounts as part of the festival celebrations," said Amina.
High-end fashion brand Kenneth Cole is another BurJuman retailer that has experienced a surge in sales during DSF. "We have experienced a 40 per cent increase in sales compared to the period before the festival started," said store chief Lakhvir Chand.
Daily offers
Many of Kenneth Cole's customers are fashion-savvy Russians and Europeans, lured no doubt by the extensive collection of high end brands in BurJuman, but also the big discounts. It helps that there is a mall-wide promotion that offers shoppers who spend Dh200 a chance to win two Range Rover Sport Supercharged luxury cars. Even on a daily basis, something exciting is happening in BurJuman, as the first 20 shoppers who spend Dh1,000 or more every day during the festival receive a 2.5-gramme gold bar.
Record attendance
Global Village, the entertainment, shopping, and cultural attraction located in Dubailand, entertained a record 145,000 guests on Friday, February 12, the Dubai Events and Promotions Establishment said in a press release yesterday. The park saw crowds queuing up from 2pm to buy tickets and the Global Village management decided to open 30 minutes earlier than the regular opening time of 4pm.
The car park at the Global Village, with a capacity for 16,500 cars, was packed throughout the evening.
Etisalat is the official partner of the 14th edition of the Global Village. The gates open at 4pm and stay open until midnight except on Thursdays and Fridays when they remain open until 1am. Mondays are reserved for families only. Tickets are priced at Dh10. Entry is free for the disabled and children below three years of age.
