Dubai: Not all on-going projects in Qatar have an eye on 2022, when the football World Cup commences. The senior management team at The Mall of Qatar — a super-regional retail destination in the making — has set sights on a much earlier timeline: the second-half of 2015.
That will be when the early openings and the big fit-outs would have attained a certain momentum for the full opening in the early months of 2016. And there will be quite a lot of space to fill — all of 195,000 square metres for lease alone.
But isn’t such a massive capacity just a trifle too much for a marketplace that has its existing retail destinations and which is only beginning to build up scale in terms of attracting high-spending tourist shoppers?
Shem Krey, deputy managing director for the Mall, brushes off such scepticism. “Truth be said there has been no major regional mall in Qatar since 2006 and the only recent one is on the smaller side. Existing ones are looking a bit tired and the populace is definitely looking for the stimulus a brand new super-regional mall can offer.
“More than just the mall itself, it is about offering the top shopping and entertainment experience for future visitors. For now, the retail sector is still undersupplied with offerings that caters to a higher shopping experience.”
Fighting words, but The Mall of Qatar sure has the arsenal to make its pitch effective. Krey confirmed that talks are on with the big retail groups in the region — each representing anywhere up to 15 brands — for taking up locations. In addition, there will be four anchor stores — a shortlist now has six possible candidates — and, of course, a hypermarket. In between, there will be a fair sprinkling of first-time brands to Qatar. “Getting the mix right is the biggest challenge,” Krey added. “We will be fussy about how we assemble the brands.”
The anchor outlets should be named shortly with the aim to give them as much time as possible to get their interiors and all associated details shop-perfect.
Phil McArthur, managing director at the consultancy McArthur + Company: “There is currently an undersupply of retail shopping centres in Qatar when one looks at regional averages of gross rentable area per capita. This of course will quickly change as the new centres open. There will undoubtedly be winners and losers in the race to capture shopping centre market share.
“The huge centres with 400-500 shops will become market dominant as they have become in Dubai. Our studies have confirmed that today’s consumer will travel beyond their immediate local mall to shop at a super-regional mall.”
But as The Mall of Qatar builds towards a 2015 dateline, the possibilities 2022 can offer Qatar and its retail sector are never far off. The Mall is located in the Al Rayyan area and close to the 45,000-seater Al Rayyan FIFA 2022 World Cup stadium. “There is a masterplan which constantly looks at how the mall can be integrated with the new stadium,” said Krey. “2022 will offer a major stimulus for the mall and the plan is to design for the sustenance of a long-range project.”
Of course, with a 2015 second-half timeline for opening in mind.
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