Those wanting more Dubai malls need 'psychiatrist'

Dubai cannot sustain any more mega-malls in an already glutted retail market, the head of one of the UAE’s largest retail conglomerates said Monday.

“[Dubai has] more than enough malls,” Mohi-Din BinHendi, president of BinHendi Enterprises, told the 4th Arabian Business Forum in Dubai.

“If anyone wants to add another mall, they need to visit a psychiatrist.”

The UAE’s trade and tourism hub, Dubai is the shopping capital of the Middle East. A report by consultancy CB Richard Ellis last year found the emirate ranks second only to Hong Kong for its percentage of luxury fashion brands.

Much of these sales are driven by Dubai’s tourism trade, said BinHendi, particularly a rise in visitors from the increasingly wealthy emerging markets.

“The Chinese have started coming here – they come in big groups, and the Russians are still very prominent shoppers, as are the Indians,” he said.

While Dubai may not have room for another mega mall, BinHendi said the city could support smaller, niche malls, such as those dedicated to furniture or hardware.

BurJuman shopping centre, one of Dubai’s oldest malls, announced plans earlier this month for a major renovation aimed at increasing retail space by more than a fifth. The overhaul will free up space for a string of high fashion brands, the mall said, and the inclusion of a cinema complex, grocery store and extended food court.

Dubai is also set to play host to the world’s largest shopping centre should plans to build the Mall of Arabia, part of the delayed Dubailand complex, come to fruition.

The mall, part of the $5bn City of Arabia Project within Dubailand, was scheduled to open in the last quarter of 2010 but work has stalled in the wake of the emirate’s real estate crash.

Original plans show the mall featuring four million sq ft of gross leasable retail space, more than 1,000 retail outlets and access to the dinosaur-themed Restless Planet park.