Dubai’s Gardens Shopping Mall signed a deal with the regional retailer Alshaya group to lease over 60,000 square feet of retail space within the development. Alshaya will open more than 15 outlets from fashion boutiques to cafes in this mall. With this latest deal, over 70 percent of the leasable space is now secured with more than 12 months still until opening.
The Alshaya group will feature a variety of brands in the mall including Starbucks Coffee, Next, River Island, Laura Ashley, Milano, MAC, Top Shop, Claires, Dorothy Perkins, Steve Madden, The Bear Factory, Mothercare, Tammy, and Pearle Optics.
Alshaya Retail, currently operates over 500 stores throughout eight countries across the Middle East and Turkey. Amongst these stores they boast more than 30 international retail brands including many of the world’s leading clothing, health, beauty, fashion and restaurant names.
The Gardens Shopping Mall is the first mall of its kind in the region and will be strategically located in the center of the latest residential and commercial development boom area in Dubai, along Sheikh Zayed Road between interchanges 5 and 6.
The retail concept has been based on the travels of 18th century explorer Ibn Battuta, and has been developed in distinct themes inspired by architectural styles to reflect his travels through Morocco, Egypt, Persia, India and China.
Recently, the French hypermarket Géant also officially announced they would open a hypermarket in the mall. This will be their first Géant hypermarket in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and will sell over 65,000 products ranging from groceries to textiles, fashion wear, electronics, household items and more.
Construction of the mall commenced early this year and is progressing on schedule for the expected opening in September 2004. The design of the center has been developed by Callison Architects, whilst Hill International are the appointed Project Managers. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
