In the early 1990s, the region's malls possessed just five million square feet of retail space between them. Today, however, the story is slightly different with the Gulf's shopping centres laying claim to around 55 million square feet of gross leasable area (GLA) and a retail market worth upwards of $50 billion.
With numerous mega-mall projects under way in every Gulf country, the region's GLA is expected to swell further and reach over 130 million square feet by 2010.
The majority of this growth is taking place in the region's new shopping capital, Dubai, which will have 27.26 square feet of shopping centre footage per head by 2009, according to London-based consultancy Retail International. In five years' time the emirate will house five of the eight biggest malls in the world, and is betting on further population growth to make this retail boom viable.
With the number of residents rising by around 8 per cent a year, Dubai's population is expected to reach two million by the end of the decade and over three million by 2015.
And with 95 per cent of the city now made up of expatriates many of whom have a high 'ready to spend' disposable income the city's malls look set to continue to thrive.
"From a wider perspective, there is a definite need for more retail space for residents and visitors at the moment, and new retail projects play a role in attracting tourists to the region, particularly the large scale ones," says Eisa Adam Ebrahim, the general manager of Dubai's Burjuman mall.
"Significant population growth and the burgeoning tourism sector are the two main reasons for the rapidly evolving retail landscape here in Dubai. To support the increasing influx of visitors, there needs to be ongoing investment in the shopping mall sector to create new shopping destinations that accommodate the needs of both residents and tourists."
One thing Dubai isn't short of these days is new shopping destinations. Nakheel's 1.5 million square feet Ibn Battuta Mall opened last spring, and was later joined Majid Al Futtaim Investments' 6.4 million square feet Mall of the Emirates centre, which features the world's biggest indoor ski resort, a 12-screen cinema complex, over 7000 parking spaces and 350 different stores in the 2.4 million square feet of leasable retail area.
Furthermore, Emaar's upcoming 5.6 million square foot Dubai Mall project, which is part of the Burj Dubai district, is scheduled for completion next year. The complex will contain around 2.6 million square feet of retail space and the world's largest indoor souk.
The biggest and grandest of all Dubai's retail projects will be the Elyas and Mustafa Galadari Group's 6.5 million square foot Mall of Arabia project.
Enhanced competition
Based in the Dubailand complex, the Mall of Arabia is set to become the largest mall in the world when it is completed in 2008.
These new developments will go head-to-head with the emirate's more established malls such as Deira City Centre, BurJuman, Mercato and the Wafi City centre, which is currently being extended.
Once all of Dubai's huge mall projects are completed, the emirate's retail space will top the 30 million square feet mark. Although this is indeed impressive, one has to wonder if there is enough business to go around.
BurJuman's Adam Ebrahim certainly thinks so, and believes the emirate's malls must continue to improve if they are to stay ahead of the game, and make money.
"The challenge for everybody will be to remain competitive because there will be enhanced competition but it will be the malls which create a distinctive experience that will stand out," he explains.
"Shopping malls need a unique selling point and a distinct environment to survive and grow in this highly competitive market. In Dubai, the philosophy is increasingly becoming 'build it more creatively', whilst continuing to raise the bar. We can see a range of malls emerging here in Dubai, with a distinction between shopping malls and 'entertainment malls'."
As well as having become the region's shopping capital, Dubai has also become the key entry point into the Middle East for many retailers who are new to the region. Well-known department stores from the UK and the USA now anchor many of Dubai's new malls, with Britain's Harvey Nichols and America's Saks Fifth Avenue taking centre-stage at Mall of the Emirates and BurJuman respectively.
The emirate's shopping centres also house well-known US stores such as Kenneth Cole, Forever 21, Levi's and Marlboro Classics, as well as firm European favourites such as Zara, Mango, Paul Smith, Benetton and Mexx.
The glut of internationally-renowned brands now present in Dubai's malls clearly emphasises the strength of the region's retail market.
"It is hardly surprising?that the opportunities the Middle East offered to retailers these days are taken rather more seriously in their boardrooms than was the case 10 years ago," wrote Simon Thompson, head of the Retail International consultancy in his Middle East Retail Dynamic 2006 paper.
"Thus, the number of international retail brands represented has risen to well over 400 from less than 20 in 1985." While the variety and luxury of the emirate's many malls is good news for the consumer, it could spell disaster for Dubai's smaller non-mall retailers.
BurJuman's Adam Ebrahim, however, believes the city is big enough and diverse enough to house many different types of retailers.
"The climate in Dubai has played a major role in creating a mall-driven society, but tourists have always and still do value street-oriented shopping," he explains.
"Bargain havens like Karama and Satwa continue to be popular with visitors, as are the gold and spice souks. And the Souq Madinat, for example, provides a good alternative for tourists and residents during the hotter summer months."
Whether Dubai's smaller retailers survive the next batch of mega-malls or not, one thing is for sure the emirate's shopping complexes look set to continue to flourish.
With more and more tourists hitting these shores every year and the city's population seemingly rising by the day, it seems that Dubai is, after all, big enough to accommodate a whole new batch of super malls.
The writer is a freelance journalist based in Paris.
