Dubai: That Dubai would have built another mega-mall irrespective of whether it was the host city for the World Expo 2020 is besides the point. Much before the announcement confirming the launch of Mall of the World earlier this year, there was enough speculation in the marketplace that something big - with Dubai and its malls, it can’t be anything else - was afoot.
But what is being attempted with the Mall of the World goes way beyond anything ever attempted previously. It’s not just about building the world’s largest mall - Dubai already has one - or of an integration of entertainment and leisure options in parallel to all the shopping possibilities. No, with this project, Dubai aims to break the ceiling on all the established norms of the mall industry.
Talking of ceiling, the entire project will be wrapped within a temperature controlled dome and which would make it an all-year round destination. Ad it will not just be a hotel or two that will be connected to the mall itself, but 100. Try and put those numbers into perspective, and one’s mind would still fail to grapple with what is being planned. With the Dh25 billion Mall of the World, one would have to see it to actually believe what it encapsulates.
And when is that happening? According to information released at the recent Cityscape Global event, the core of the concept would be revealed early next year and which would be followed by a carefully managed project schedule. Some of the key retail elements could be ready well ahead of the Expo 2020. “It is quite likely that the major component of the retail portion at the Mall will take up Phase One... given that it takes us closer to the Expo 2020 event,” Khalfan Bel Houl, Vice-President–Strategy at Dubai Holding, had said at the time.
Which still leaves plenty of time for retailers to prepare for their next strategy. “They will be looking not only at the retail or alternative offerings, but also the proposed demand drivers for these new locations,” said Simon Townsend, Business Development Manager at the consultant DTZ.
“It may be that certain retailers may feel it prudent to effectively be in all of the locations, while some of the larger occupiers will no doubt be considering their existing store base and its performance (as well as legal obligations on them such as leases) to see whether an alternative location - rather than additional locations - would benefit the brand offering.
“There is some thought that the financial terms offered to entice retailers to become corner-store operators may not be available in the future when malls have achieved a certain level of pre-leases. So retailers need to think about potential future rentals and whether any such savings are beneficial.
“While there is no doubt the new malls will add substantial retail offerings to residents as well as tourists, the need for smaller neighborhood or community retail will potentially increase in demand due to the growth in the residential development.
“Shopping trends have changed with more localized convenience shopping resulting in many of the major supermarket brands both locally and internationally bringing in smaller district or neighborhood “local” stores to cater to every-day shopping with the larger stores meant for less frequent - but higher value - retail.”
