Dubai: Line Investments & Property LLC (LIP), an Abu Dhabi-based shopping mall developer is investing Dh2 billion in building 12 new shopping malls in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) that will boost the region's retail landscape, a top company official said.
The company, part of the Abu Dhabi-based retailer Emke Group, runs a chain of 83 supermarkets and hypermarkets in the Gulf, employs 23,200 who collectively help the company generate annual turnover of $4.2 billion (Dh15.42 billion).
This marks the group's aggressive expansion plan to increase its market share from roughly a third of the retail market.
"Though we initially focused on the Abu Dhabi market, now we are expanding our presence across the UAE as well as other major locations in the GCC," said Yousuf Ali M.A., Managing Director of the group.
"In the UAE next year we will be opening four new malls in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah as well as extensions of Al Wahda Mall and Madinat Zayed Mall in Abu Dhabi. Other projects slated to open in 2011 include Bahrain, Doha, Riyadh, Kuwait, Muscat and Kochi in India."
The company is currently building India's largest shopping mall in Kochi, Kerala.
Launched five years ago to accelerate the group's foray into the shopping mall and leisure industry, it is already a name to reckon with, with some well know malls under its belt such as Al Wahda Mall, Khalidiyah Mall and Mazyad Mall to name a few.
The group which operates the Lulu Hypermarket chain in the GCC has the advantage of being the anchor store in all their malls which assures a high footfall and helps attract other leading retail tenants.
The company is planning to enter the restaurant and coffee shop business as well, which will further compliment its retail business.
"We see tremendous growth potential in the retail scenario of the UAE and we will continue to expand both in existing markets as well as in new markets such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the Mena region and India. We are opening our first store in Egypt later this year and will be announcing further plans very soon. The Lulu shopping mall in Kochi will be the largest in India with more than 1.5 million square feet and will also have the first Marriott hotel in Kerala," he said.
New horizons
"Apart from hypermarkets, supermarkets and malls we are also entering a few new sectors such as money exchange and F&B [food and beverages] retail, which we think will gel perfectly with our core business and can easily be expanded into new markets," he added.
The group also has a strong presence in Dubai.
"All sectors of the Dubai market remain in the downturn phase of the cycle, with the likelihood of continued falls in average prices and rentals over the rest of 2010. However, the pace of decline has eased from that seen in 2009 as the market moves closer to the bottom of the current cycle," David Macadam, head of retail, Jones Lang LaSalle, Mena region, said.
"Most retailers are currently focusing expansion plans on other locations within the Mena region, as their penetration rates are already high in Dubai. This trend is common among both value retailers and luxury retailers."
