Retail group says Dubai festival sales up 17%

Total sales at this year?s Dubai Summer Surprises (DSS) shopping festival rose just 17 percent, failing to keep pace with the increase in the city?s gross leasable area (GLA) following the opening of record-sized The Dubai Mall.

When all its stores have opened, The Dubai Mall alone will have added around 23 percent to Dubai?s gross leasable area (GLA), which stood at roughly 1.5m sq m at the time of the opening in November last year, according to CB Richard Ellis (CBRE).

However, the phased opening of the mall means only around 75 percent of all outlets are currently open, Emaar Retail said on Thursday.

DSMG did not break out figures for summer sales at malls that have been open for a year or more.

Still, DSMG chairman Majid Al Ghurair said footfall, or the number of visitors, had ?surpassed all expectations?.
DSS sales rose 17 percent from the previous year, according to data from 23 Dubai malls compiled by the Dubai Shopping Malls Group (DSMG).

But sales were boosted by the opening of The Dubai Mall, which bills itself as the largest mall in the world, and local shopping centres Arabian Centre, Dubai Marina Mall and Oasis Centre.
Major retailers have told Arabian Business that sales at this year?s DSS were down by up to 35 percent despite deep discounting at many chains.

by Soren BillingThis email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it on Thursday, 20 August 2009