Emaar Malls Group (Dubai Mall) - Dubai, United Arab Emirates
The group headed out into the heat for the first company visit in Dubai: Emaar Malls group (Dubai Mall). We met with the Director of Leasing, Patrick Lawrence, and PR Manager for the Dubai Mall, Angela Bak. In her introduction, Angela explained that the sprawling retail centre and Dubai itself are full of superlatives; the largest, the tallest, the biggest etc and during our walking tour of the mall, this description certainly didn’t disappoint. As the world’s largest mall, The Dubai Mall stretches over 12 million sq ft, which includes the 30-acre Burj Dubai Lake with the tallest performing musical fountain in the world. The interior of the mall complex was equally impressive, boasting more than 1,200 retail stores, an indoor Aquarium & Underwater Zoo in one of the world’s largest tanks, and an indoor ice skating rink. Patrick explained how through close relationships with retailers The Dubai Mall had attracted the world’s leading luxury brands and the very latest fit outs of specialty retailers, and is very selective about the retail mix, often opting for higher class supermarkets and food retailers. But due to the sheer size of the mall, leading up to the opening many of the store fit-out companies in Dubai were fully booked and many retailers had to source store fit-out firms from offshore!
The key strategy for The Dubai Mall is to increase shopper dwell time by creating a lifestyle destination for families. In addition to the numerous retail stores, family attractions, entertainment and dining have been incorporated to offer a complete shopping experience. Angela and Patrick told us that despite difficult times economically, the centre is still performing well with a weekly footfall of 75,000 people and next year the centre plans to open KidZania, combining education and entertainment, as well as SEGA Republic, an indoor theme park, in addition to the aquarium and a 22 screen cinema. Following the formal walking tour the group spent the afternoon shopping and perusing the vast mall before heading back to the hotel.
Hearing-about 'The-Grove' concept within the mall from Angela Bat, PR Manager and Patrick Lawrence, Director of Leasing
Unique waterfall feature
The group standing in the luxury fashion hall section of the mall
