Qatar’s retail scene is about to change dramatically with the imminent opening of three new mixed-use malls: Mall of Qatar, Doha Festival City Mall (DFCM) and Tawar Mall.
All of these will incorporate five-star hotels to cement their destination credentials, and all will be keen to promote their unique selling points in an increasingly competitive environment.
“The market here is not yet as developed or professional as Dubai,” says Pedro Ribeiro, the general manager of Tawar Mall.
“But it will quickly move to an oversupply of activities. The difference to win success will be the level of the activities. To make people come back and repeat the experience.”
Ribeiro joined Tawar Mall in September 2015 having previously managed in recent years a number of Europe’s and the GCC’s largest shopping centres.
And the Portuguese national draws on that experience to insist that he is not participating in a race to be the first of the three malls to open, and in fact he thinks that is unlikely. Tawar Mall’s target opening date of November 1 has been selected to ensure it is ready for both its retailers and shoppers rather than to beat the competition.
Tawar Mall will be a four-storey, 91,000m2 retail and leisure complex (with a further two storeys of basement parking), built on 301,000m2 of land at the junction of Al Markhiya Street and Arab League Street in Al Duhail.
“Tawar Mall will broaden the retail landscape of Doha, bringing new concepts to the region, while supporting the local traditions at the same time,” says Ribeiro.
“The mall is 85% finalised,” he says [at the end of May]. “We have started testing and commissioning with Civil Defence. And we’ve started the handover of the big boxes,” as he calls the mall’s retail units — 61% of which are signed (with a target of a minimum of 75% by opening day). The 312-retail-unit Tawar Mall will be anchored by a 122-room boutique hotel, declining at this stage to name the operator. “The hotel has an MoU in process and we’re starting construction this month,” says Ribeiro.
“It will be a landmark property. There’s no other hotel around here.” The hotel will feature a panoramic restaurant overlooking the mall’s feature musical fountain. It is expected to be licensed for alcohol, though that licence will not cover the other restaurants in the mall.
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Jul 27, 2016 , India
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