Page 19 - #189 March 2024

“What a great week seeing some of the
amazing projects lighting up Retail and Leisure
in Saudi Arabia and the MENA region, the
agenda, meetings, networking and the awards ROSHN FRONT
were all simply outstanding.”
CHRIS BROWNE, CO-FOUNDER & FORMER
GLOBAL RETAIL DIRECTOR FOR TED BAKER

AL NAKHEEL MALL

“I would like to express my congratulations to the successful
delivery of the 2024 RLI Connect MENA forum. I must say, I
thoroughly enjoyed the gathering. I hope your 2025 edition will
be equally successful and it’s great to have you as a key partner
to contribute towards building a vibrant retail ecosystem in
Riyadh City towards 2030.”
ROYAL COMMISSION FOR RIYADH CITY
DR MARTYN DAVIES, HEAD OF THE RETAIL SECTOR
RIYADH PARK
- the profound significance of collaboration, the driving force behind RLI developers to expand within the GCC. In excess of 1,000 meetings were
has always been to assist brands in expanding beyond their domestic completed over two days, building those all-important relationships.
borders. The essence of international connectivity for mutual growth RLI Connect MENA was held alongside the inaugural RLI MENA
has been at every endeavour.” She continues, “The potential in this Awards in association with Headline Partner Apparel Group, a truly
region is nothing short of staggering. I am sure you are all well aware of ceremonial evening celebrating retail and leisure excellence and the
plans in the Kingdom and by bringing you all together, my dream is that most innovative projects and companies across the region. Thank you
we collectively seize the vast opportunities that lie before us.” to everyone who made the events a huge success.
The following day was another intense day of networking, meetings, shared
insights and collaborative exploration… equally productive and worthwhile. So where next? RLI Connect Global will be going across the pond this
RLI successfully achieved its mission by bringing together international October to the Magic City and meeting point of the world… Miami.
brands to connect with potential partners, owners, investors and Stay tuned for further information.

The RLI team provided an enriching experience
which opened my eyes to the current retail VIA RIYADH
environment in Saudi and the truly innovative future
projects for Vision 2030. RLI Connect MENA was
also a great opportunity to meet with leaders and
peers in the field of retail and real estate, building
our international network and providing the brand
with prospective future collaborations within the
MENA region. An introduction by Jayne Rafter,
of RLI, has helped to enable Paint My Dreams to
have a presence in Saudi Arabia and we are thrilled
to announce our experiential gifting will soon
be available in the prestigious department store
Harvey Nichols, Riyadh.”
PAINT MY DREAMS MWAZ
KATE CULLINGWORTH, FOUNDER

RLI CONNECT MENA RETAIL SAFARI

This year’s Retail Safari visited various retail destinations, giving in the Kingdom. We then took in the sights of VIA Riyadh, the world’s
international delegates an opportunity to see the retail scene here in premier destination for experiencing luxury, steeped in local tradition and
Riyadh. We began at ROSHN Front, a transformative urban experience heritage. Within VIA Riyadh delegates had the opportunity to visit MWAZ,
that reimagines the way people live, work, play, dine and shop in the north a truly new experiential shopping space located in Via Riyadh, that fuses
of Riyadh. Next up was Al Nakheel Mall, where delegates could see the fashion with art and technology to create a transformative journey that is
best shopping experiences in Riyadh as well as amazing entertainment personalised through elements of interaction and discovery.
options. Riyadh Park then provided attendees a unique shopping and Thank you to this year’s partners, all attendees enjoyed a range of the
entertainment offering, which is designed to be an unparalleled destination best attractions and experiences that the Kingdom has to offer.
We will be announcing dates and locations for our next events soon, so stay tuned!