Al Wahda Mall opened its doors to the public with more than 200 new stores, on Wednesday, 5th September 2012, after leasing more than 90 per cent of the retail space in a major extension of the shopping centre in Abu Dhabi.
More choices for shopping, dining, and entertainment will be coming up at the mall in the form of shops, restaurants, cinemas and fitness centres. Virgin Megastore, H&M, American Eagle Outfitters, and Calvin Klein will be among the major new brands in the mall.
“We have leased over 90 per cent of the space,” said Raja Abdulkhader, the director of Line Investments & Properties. “There are just a few more shops left now. The mall will have a big launch later, next month” he added.
Major Middle Eastern retailers, operating a wide range of international brands, have given their seal of approval to the project, confirming a host of new stores to be opened next week.
Kuwait’s MH Alshaya has agreed to open 14 brands, including Pottery Barn Kids, Dorothy Perkins, Miss Selfridge, and Bath & Body Works.
Azadea Group, from Lebanon, is also offering brands such as Pull&Bear, Bershka, Pepe Jeans, Jules, Piazza Italia, and Tezenis and George, the budget value clothing line.
Landmark Group and Liwa Trading Enterprises have also signed up a number of their brands, such as Reiss, New Look and Gant.
M&Co, a Scottish fashion retailer with nearly 300 stores across the United Kingdom, will be the anchor clothing store in the new development, alongside BHS, another British department store.
The retail space in the capital is set to grow from 1.68 million square metres to 2.3 million by the end of 2014, according to Jones Lang LaSalle, the property specialist. It expects about 300,000 sq mts of retail space to enter the market this year, although some mall projects could be delayed.
“The Al Wahda extension will bring the mall to the forefront of the shopping experience in Abu Dhabi with its spectrum of choices under one roof”, Yusuff Ali, Managing Director of the Lulu Group and the mall’s developer, said earlier this year as he announced the brands to come up in the extension.
