They race to rework formula, take on online shopping by adding more experiences. Dubai: Open a certain number of retail stores, create more F&B options, and provide ample space for cinemas and family entertainment arcades — that used to make for a successful mall.
But that’s not how Timothy Earnest sees it. “There’s a fourth pillar that malls will need to have … and that’s about setting up moments or experiences that are special,” said the CEO of Al-Futtaim Malls, the developer of Dubai Festival City and of the upcoming Festival Plaza in Jebel Ali.
“You want to have more people coming in and Instagramming themselves with something that’s just happened at a mall. It needn’t be a static one-time event, but something that happens though the year. As the mall owner, our part is to help deliver those moments that people want to share or be a part of.”
Mall retailing in the age of e-retailing has essentially become a story of how well they do on weekends. Get crowds flocking in from Thursday evening to Saturday closing time and mall owners have reasons to cheer. If they manage to repeat this over multiple weekends, that makes for a good year. This is where the social aspect comes in. Earnest reckons that mega-malls in Dubai have an inbuilt advantage over their counterparts in the US or Europe in getting this right.
“What shoppers here keep telling us every Friday and Saturday is that they love going to the malls,” said Earnest. “But you don’t see this four-pillar formula elsewhere — 70 per cent of the mall space in the US are with anchor stores. So, if one big store closes, it could cause problems for the entire mall. Those are outdated concepts … and it’s been said plenty of times.
