Dubai: Brett Schafer, Senior Managing Director of Al Futtaim Group Real Estate, has worked with the Dubai Festival City project since it started seven years ago.
Schafer told Gulf News during an exclusive tour with top executives that fast food was an integral element in creating one of the largest private shopping developments in the country, and the 220,000-square-foot food court is a critical part of the equation.
"The one common attraction for visitors is the food and beverage we offer," said the Canadian expatriate, who has worked in mega developments from Poland and Japan to South Africa and the Middle East. One of the key ingredients in boosting footfall is securing 93 global brand eateries in Dubai Festival City, big-name food outlets that have signed permanent leases to build new storefronts costing upwards of $2 million (Dh7.3 million).
Schafer is quick to point out that at least one-third or more than 30 of Dubai Festival City's new fast food stores were opened by multinational fast food companies for the first time in Dubai.
When food retail outlets sign on, Schafer said they are contractually obliged to share monthly earnings details with mall managers who want to monitor whether certain brands are working.
"The biggest acid test of all is we monitor sales," said Schafer. "We like to work in a partnership and ask them what's cooking."
More than 90 per cent of eateries in Dubai Festival City are doing well, he said,
Tom Miles, Director of Shopping Centres for Al Futtaim Group Real Estate, helped create several retail complexes in Los Angeles and San Jose, California.
Miles said he wanted to transfer in part the experiential retail business model of both California projects backed by popular American food brands to Dubai.
"You have to bring in some new stuff to keep it fresh and to keep them coming back," said Miles, an American expatriate. "That's what we go after, experiential retail. When you come here, there is a sense of discovery."
There's no question that the upswing in demand for American fast food is manifesting itself in the Dubai mall market. "Customers are voting with their feet," said Miles, thanks to a growing appetite for well-known American food brands.
"One of the things the US does well is export popular culture. Whether it's Coca Cola, Pepsi or Ruffles, exporting is something that Yanks do better than anyone else," Miles said.
Consumer demand for brand names is third in Dubai globally, behind New York and London, he said. "It's ahead of Paris and other major cities. It's just driven by how brand conscious the consumer is in Dubai."
