www.dubaifaqs.com
As more and more shopping malls are built in Dubai, residents wonder
why another shopping mall is needed. And yet, as soon as a new one is
opened, it seems to fill up very quickly. To enjoy a wander through a
shopping mall, visit Mercato in Jumeirah to get a taste of an Italian
market (no, we know it's nothing like the real thing) or Ibn Battuta
Mall to learn a bit of history about the famous (he's in wikipedia)
Arabian traveller and have a coffee in the most splendid Starbucks in
Dubai.
In Dubai, 35 shopping malls, with about 3500 stores, cover an area
of 14 million sq meters (151 m sq ft or 14 sq km) said Easa Adam, the
head of the Dubai Shopping Malls Group (DSMG), in February 2008.
Glossary
- DCC - Deira City Center (or Centre)
- GLA - Gross Leasable Area - means retail shopping area, doesn't include
car parks etc
- IBM - Ibn Battuta Mall
- MAF - Conglomerate of UAE companies, chairman is Majid Al Futtaim.
MAF Shopping Malls is a shopping mall developer.
- MOE - Mall of the Emirates, Ministry of Education
- MOTE - Mall of the Emirates
Opening hours for Dubai shopping malls
Some shops will have different from normal shopping center hours eg
supermarkets may open 0800 or 0900 to midnight. Fridays can be confusing
with some shops only opening at 1600 in the afternoon, while others are
open from 1000. Specific information is given in the list of Dubai and
UAE shopping malls below, but hours can vary. As a general rule, shops
are open 1000-2200 Saturday to Thursday and 1400 or 1600 to 2200 on Fridays.
Busy times are Friday afternoons and evenings (almost everyone has Fridays
off) and Thursday evenings. Other evenings are not exactly quiet though.
Mornings are the best time to avoid crowds.
Ramadan hours are usually extended
to midnight for shops and 0100 or 0200 (yes, really!) for supermarkets.
Shops may be closed around Iftar (1700-1900 depending on time of year).
During Ramadan almost all food outlets will be closed during daylight
hours (there might be one or two open in the larger malls).
Shops often stay open until midnight on other important dates eg
New Years Eve, the night before Eid celebrations, Christmas Eve.
List of shopping malls in Dubai
- Al Ain Center - Bur Dubai, small centre with mostly computer shops
upstairs, and a useful food court and internet cafe downstairs.
Spinneys is connected via a walkway - park your car above Spinneys
(entrance round the back).
- Al Bustan Center / Centre - turn right at Al Mulla Plaza junction.
Has a few shops and a couple of cinemas. Handy if you live in the area,
nothing spectacular though.
- Al Ghurair Centre or Al Ghurair City, Al Rigga Road
in Deira. Open 1000-2200 except Fridays 1400-2200. The first large shopping
mall in Dubai, a cheaper place then the newer ones, has over
200 shops. Not completely self contained - some of the cafes open directly
on to the main road for free carbon dioxide with your coffee.
- Al Khaleej Centre - Bur Dubai, small centre with random shops - mostly
IT/computer related, and food court in basement, across the road from
Al Ain Center. Paid parking but useful
to know
if you're looking for somewhere in the area to park. Etisalat has a
customer service centre in this mall.
- Al Mulla Plaza - last stop before Sharjah on the DXB-SHJ highway.
Known more as a navigation aid than a place to go shopping.
- Bin Sougat Centre (BinSougat Center), Rashidiya,
tel +971-4-2863000, PO Box 55316. Shops open 10am-10pm Sat-Thu (some shops closed
from 1-5pm), 5pm-10pm Fri (coffee shops open for lunch).
Small, 2-level shopping center with a Spinneys supermarket (open 8am-11pm).
First opened July 2001, expanded in 2003. Shops include
Ajmal Perfumes (perfumes), Costa Coffee (coffee), Damas (jewellery), Baskin
Robbins (cholesterol), Dome Café (food), Etisalat
(telephone connections), Jumbo (electronics),
Pier Import (furniture and household
goods), Red Earth (cosmetics), San Marco Household (stuff), Union National
Bank (money).
- Bur Juman Centre (BurJuman, Bur Jaman, BurJaman
Center) - on the Trade Center Road in Bur Dubai. Open 1000-2200 except
Fridays 1400-2200. Expanded in 2006 from 200 to 300 shops,
will also have movie theatres
and
more restaurants. A more exclusive destination than MOTE, DCC and IBM.
- Deira City Center (Deira City Center, DCC, sometimes
called 'City Center Mall'), open 1000-2200 every day, opposite Dubai
Creek Golf & Yacht
Club. Very busy in the evenings, parking is difficult. Good selection
of shops, has a noisy food court and a Carrefour. IKEA (a Swedish
furniture chain with strange product names like 'blorp', 'pnuk', and
'abba') used to be in DCC but moved to Dubai Festival City near the
Garhood Bridge in 2006.
- Dragonmart (or Dragon Mart),
on the Dubai-Hatta road, after Emirates Rd junction heading in Hatta
/ Oman direction Hatta on the right-hand side (location). Many small shops
selling Chinese manufactured products. Not quite the same as other
shopping
malls in Dubai but an interesting place to visit if you want a plastic
bucket
or a
cheap plasma TV from China.
- Dubai Mall - see 'The Dubai Mall' below.
- Dubai Marina Mall- in Dubai Marina (not the same
as 'Marina Mall' in Abu Dhabi). With hotel and apartments,
total
development cost is over AED 1.4 billion. Shopping
center retail area of 120,000 m2 and total area of complex is
360,000 m2. Not finished as of Dec 2006 but construction is roaring
ahead
(as you
would
expect
with
an
Emaar
development). Scheduled completion date is May 2008, probable completion
date should be close to that.
Mall location on the Dubai Marina water's edge will be appealing.
-
Dubai
Outlet Mall (DOM)
- open 22 August 2007. Lots of bargains at factory
shops all under one roof. Perhaps.
- Grand City Mall, Al Quoz Industrial Area 4, opened
July 2006. Small (75,000 sq ft) low budget shopping center catering
to workers living in the area. About 35 shops. Includes ANTA Travel,
Karama Medical Center, Better Life Pharmacy, department store, Grand
City Hypermarket, money exchange, ATMs (NBAD, Standard Chartered). Operated
by Regency Group.
- Grand City Mall Jebel Ali (name not confirmed)?
Opening date unknown (construction started April 2007?) Small (50,000
sq ft) low budget shopping for labourers. Developers - Regency Group.
- Grand Shopping Mall, Al Quoz Industrial Area 1,
opened 2004. Small (40,000 sq ft) low budget shopping mall with about
20 shops, targeted to the workers living in the area. Operated by Regency
Group. Includes Grand Hypermarket, money exchange, ATM (Standard Chartered).
- Hamarain Centre (Hamrian / Hamriyan / Hamarayan
/ Hamariyan Center - in Deira, difficult to spell but has pretty lights
on the outside.
- Hamriyah Shopping Center - in Al Hamriyah, not the same as the Hamarain
Centre.
-
Ibn Battuta Mall (Ibn
Batuta / Ibn Battuta Shopping Mall, IBM / IBSM) not as large as MOTE,
but much more fascinating to walk through (if a shopping
center
can
ever
be
called
fascinating). Several themed areas - Andalusia, China, Egypt, India,
Persia, Tunisia which reflect the travels of a 14th century Arab
explorer
named Ibn Battuta. Scattered throughout the mall are displays of
documents and other artifacts related to Mr Battuta's travels and
history of
those regions. All items are reconstructed but look authentic
if you squint your eyes
a bit.
Instead of the ubiquitous Carrefour, Ibn Battuta Mall has
Geant, another French superstore selling groceries and cheap underpants.
Otherwise,
mostly the same shops you'd find anywhere but less crowded. The
only Lego shop in Dubai is here, also the only IMAX cinema in Dubai
(if
you don't know what that is, it's similar to sitting in the front
row of a normal cinema). Food court at Jebel Ali end has fast junk
food. Food court at Dubai end has slow junk food. Both areas have
a good selection and there's a couple of posher restaurants in the
China
Court area. Several Starbucks with one in a spectacular atrium in
the middle of the mall.
There are electric golf carts to ferry you from one end of the mall
to the other, costs 5 dhs. Usually easy to find car parking.
- Jumeirah Plaza - small shopping center near the
Magrudy's Centre on Jumeirah Beach Road.
- Khan Murjan - (Khan
Murjan images) underground souk,
part of the Wafi Center complex, was due to open by end 2007 but delayed
till early 2008. Based on a 14th century Suq / Souq - the Khan Marjan
Caravanserai in Baghdad, Iraq (renovated as a restaurant in the early
1990s, unknown what state it's in now), and with further inspiration
taken from other souks around the Middle East. Consider it more of
a tourist attraction than a full-on shopping center, a bit like Souk
Madinat or Souk Al Bahar, while the Wafi Mall should satiate your
purchasing desires.
- Lamcy Plaza - large pink building on Sheikh Zayed Road near the Karama
exit and opposite the American Hospital / Al Nasr Leisureland. Clothing
shops always seem to have sales, and the top floor location of the
supermarket
seems
odd.
High
atrium
has
a
London
Tower
Bridge
halfway up where you can sit and have coffee. Reasonably good food
court, two cinemas.
- Magrudys Center, Jumeirah Beach Road - the original Magrudy's bookshop
and shoeshop, Gerard's cafe (where you may still be able to find the occasional
Jumeirah Jane) and a few other small shops.
- Mall of Arabia - expected
to be almost the biggest shopping mall in the world when it opens with
area of about 10 million sq ft (1 million square meters) - four times
the size of MOTE. Expected opening
date early 2009. The Dubai Mall will be 100,000 sq m bigger - that difference
is close to the total size of most other large shopping malls already
open in Dubai. With
about
1000
retail
outlets
to
distract
visitors,
MOA
(location) will
be the entry point for the
Restless
Planet
dinosaur
park.
Website www.mallofarabia.ae under construction (Jan 2007).
-
Mall
of the Emirates (MOTE
or MOE) - biggest in the UAE when it opened in November 2005 with
area about 2.4 million square feet (220,000 sq m) and 400 shops,
has an indoor ski field at one end along with a hotel. Parking can
be difficult at busy times (evenings and holidays). Will look small
once Dubai Mall and Mall of Arabia open.
- Marina Mall - see 'Dubai Marina Mall' for the one in Dubai Marina,
or 'Marina Mall' in the Abu Dhabi section below for the one in Abu
Dhabi.
-
Mercato Mall - Jumeirah Beach Road near Dubai Zoo. Open 1000-2200
except Fridays 1400-2200. Quaint Italian themed centre with a good
Virgin store (the music shop), a few clothing shops,
Spinneys,
Home
Centre,
small food court, a couple of nice restaurants with one Italian
one upstairs overlooking the Beach Road, several movie theatres,
and
lots of cobblestoned paths. First opened in October 2002.
- Mirdiff / Mirdif City Center - (01 Jun 2007 information).
Planned completion date is late 2009. A 2.6 billion Dh mall
with 183,400
sq
m (about 1.8m sq ft) of GLA in Mirdiff district,
location Emirates Road (direct access from interchange 55) and Tripoli
Street, carparking for 7,000 cars. About 430 retail outlets,
including a Carrefour hypermarket. Also 'edutainment area for kids',
14-screen
multiplex cinema, and two food courts with 60 restaurants and cafes.
Developer is MAF Shopping Malls.
- Oasis Center - opened April 1999, burnt down in
September 2005, unclear what the future is.
- Souk Madinat - next to the Burj
Al Arab in Al Sufouh / Umm Suqueim.
Part of the Madinat Jumeirah complex. Not really a large shopping center
but worth a visit for the traditional styled architecture and pleasant
atmosphere along the (man-made) canals.
- Souk Al Bahar - at the foot of the Burj
Dubai in the Downtown Dubai
development. Opened December 2007. Similar to Souk Madinat with many
of the same restaurants. Also a pleasant place to stroll around but
not where you'd go for a mega-shopping expedition.
Has a Spinneys supermarket downstairs.
- The Dubai Mall - originally
scheduled to open November 2006, might open in 2008. Will
be the largest shopping mall in the world with 1000+ shops in an area
of 11-12 million sq feet (1.1-1.2 million sq m). Actual retail
space about
800,000
sq
m.
Some posh restaurants and an Olympic ice-skating rink will occupy more
space. An Emaar development.
- Times Square Center - Sheikh Zayed Road, near Mall
of the Emirates (on the same side). Opened May 2007. Small shopping
mall with a large Sharif (not Sharafi) electronics store (huge in fact),
and the "Chill Out" Ice Lounge, or Ice Bar, where you sit
on ice chairs, and eat and drink from plates and glasses made of ice.
They provide warm clothes so you don't end up with frostbite. No alcohol,
but you don't have to worry about your ice cream melting. Other shops
include Axxezz, Bayti, Biella, Caribou Café, Chrio, Color Nail,
Duxiana, Edition Limitee, Evoluzione, Extreme Freshies, InterSport,
InWear, Jealous 21, Joe Bloggs, Karisma, Lamborghini Café, Mikyajy,
Nayomi, The Padi, Toys R Us, Sanrio, Storage Ideas, V-moto, Watch Square.
- Wafi Centre (Wafi City Center / Wafi City Mall)
- Sheikh Zayed Road near Garhood Bridge on the Bur Dubai side of
the creek. Oud Metha area. Open 1000-2200 except Fridays 1600-2200.
Small when it first opened
with
expensive luxury goods shops. Has expanded to around 200 shops
now. Marks & Spencer (M&S, Marks & Spencers, or Marks & Sparks)
have a presence, Thomson sells musical instruments, there's a
limited foodcourt upstairs, and a music lesson institute above the
food court. It's a quieter shopping centre than, say, MOTE. Except
for Thursday nights and Friday afternoons/evenings. The complex also
includes a spa, health, beauty, and sports club, accommodation, a
couple of
fine
restaurants
and bars
(Wafi Rooftop is a good place to hang out), and Dubai's Planet Hollywood
restaurant.
- Wafi Underground Souk - see Khan Murjan above
Shopping Malls in Abu Dhabi
- Abu Dhabi Mall, in tourist club area next to the Beach Rotana Hotel & Towers.
Has 200+ shops, 40+ food outlets, cinemas and Abu Dhabi Co-op Hypermarket.
Open 1000-2200 (to 2300 on Thursdays) except Fridays 1530-2200. Hypermarket
0800-midnight, some restaurants open till 2300 or 0200. Tel +971-2-6454858
(customer service) or try +971-2-6457733, web www.abudhabi-mall.com.
First opened 15 April 2001, total area 200,000 sq meters. Largest shopping
mall
in
Abu Dhabi
as of December 2006.
- Al Raha Mall (Raha Mall) - on Dubai-Abu Dhabi highway
next to Al Raha Beach Villa Complex, tel +971-2-5561181. Open mid
2007? Area 350,000 sq ft (35,000 sq meters) includes hypermarket, food
court, about 100 retail shops and a family amusement center. Run by
EMKE group associate (or subsidiary)
Line Investments & Property LLC.
- Al Wahda Mall (Al Wahdah / Al Wehda Mall) - shopping
mall opened 31 May 2007 on Airport Rd near the Al Wahda Sports and
Cultural Club. Opening hours 1000-2200, food court to 2300. Total area
apparently 1.5 million sq ft (about 150,000 sq m) with 150 shops. Has
a Lulu hypermarket (open 0800-2300) and a Magrudy's bookshop. Website
www.alwahda-mall.com, not www.alwahdamall.com (spam) or www.alwahdamall.org
(under construction). Run
by EMKE group (Line Investments & Property LLC). Website has telephone
+971-2-4466622, fax +971-2-4455522 but July 2007 advertisement as tel
+971-2-4437070 and fax +971-2-4437171
- Dalma Mall, in the Industrial City of Abu Dhabi
(ICAD) on the way to Mussafah / Mussaffah. Dalma Mall under construction,
scheduled opening of Phase I by April 2009. GLA of about 150,000 sq
m (about 1.5m sq ft), will have large Carrefour supermarket, cinema
complex, and the usual food court, children's play area, etc. Phase
one (120,000 sq m) construction is the ground and first floor, phase
two (30,000 sq m) for the second floor. Website www.dalmamall.ae, tel
+971-2-6814399 (CB Richard Ellis) if you want to rent shop space.
- Khalidiya Mall (Al Khalidiya Mall / Al Khalideeya
Mall / Al Khalediya Mall) under construction Dec 2006, early
2007 opening was planned but that ended up being January 2008. In
Al Khalidiya area, 86,000 sq m (about 800,000 square feet) with 160
shops and a hypermarket. Run by EMKE group (Line Investments and Property
LLC). Website www.khalidiyahmall.com (with music to drive you batty),
tel +971-2-6354000
- Khalidiya Shopping Center - not the same as the
Khalidiya Mall, tel +971-2-6679999
- Madinat Zayed Shopping Centre and Gold Centre (MZSC),
tel +971-2-6318555. Has 200+ retail shops and 60+ gold and jewellery
shops so it's also the largest shopping center in Abu Dhabi (along
with Abu Dhabi Mall). Has 'Homes R Us', Daiso (a well-known Japanese
shop), and an Abu Dhabi Co-operative Society supermarket. Website is
not www.mzshoppingcentre.com (spam) as listed in some sources, and www.mzsc.ae
gives a parking page (Dec 2006). Expansion plans for 2007 to increase
number of
shops to 400.
Run by EMKE Group (Line Investments & Property LLC).
- Marina Mall, near Emirates Palace hotel, tel +971-2-6818300.
Phase I opened March 2001 with 160 shops and 70,000 sq m of Gross Leasable
Area (GLA), phase II opened in February 2006 (only a year behind schedule)
with another 180 shops and additional GLA of 45,000 sq m, a bowling
alley, and indoor snow park.
Marina Mall is owned and managed by National Investment Corporation (NIC), General
Manager of Marina Mall is
Nadeem Wajahat. The Marina Mall website www.marinamall.ae
is still under construction as of July 2007 (which must some sort of
internet record - no website even after six years of operations). Presumably
phase III of the Marina Mall in Abu Dhabi will be the opening of the
website. There's also an unrelated Marina Mall in the Dubai Marina (under
construction until 2008).
- Abu Dhabi City Center Mall - unknown, probably the same
as Abu Dhabi Mall
- Abu Dhabi Shopping Mall - unknown, presumably the same as Abu Dhabi
Mall
- Al Ahlia Prisunic tel +971-2-6811400
- Al Falah Plaza tel +971-2-6425800
- Al Hosn Plaza tel +971-2-6675555
- Al Khalidiya Shopping Mall - see Khalidiya Mall.
- Al Muhairy Centre (Al Muhairi Center) - small mall with 20 shops
in Khalidiya on Zayed 1st street opposite the Cultural Foundation,
tel +971-2-6322228, web www.almuhairycentre.com (with music!). Location
Map.
- Al Rais Shopping Center
- Dana Plaza tel +971-2-6651333
- Fotouh Al Khair Centre (Ftooh Al Khair Center / Fotooh
Al Khair Center) tel +971-2-6211133
- Hamdan Center tel +971-2-6328555.
- Hamed Center tel +971-2-6675550.
- Liwa Centre tel +971-2-6320344, revamped with re-opening
in late 2007. A new Home Center store opened in December 2007.
- Lulu Centre tel +971-2-6779786
- Mina Hyper Market tel +971-2-6734848
- Raha Shopping Mall - see Al Raha Mall.
- Rotana Mall
- Wahda Shopping Mall - see Al Wahda Mall
Shopping malls and shopping centers in other UAE emirates
Shopping Malls in Ajman
- Ajman City Centre - on the main road from Sharjah to Ras Al Khaimah
(the coast road, not the Emirates Road extension). Movie theatres,
food court, Carrefour, and other shops.
- Dana Mall - first phase of 150,000
sq ft
with 200 retail shops on 3 floors due to open by end of 2008 (update
- due to open March 2009 says General Manager
Sultan bin Ghedayer in Feb 2008). Includes a supermarket and food court, car
parking for 1500 vehicles. Location on Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Road.
Exclusive leasing agent is Halcon Real Estate LLC. Developer is
Bin Ghedayer Group. Construction value AED 400 million. Expansion phase another
AED 200m, including hotel, due for completion by 2013.
Shopping Malls in Al Ain
- Al Ain Mall (different from the small Al Ain Center
in Dubai)
- Al Jimi Center (Al Jimi Mall)
Shopping Malls in Ras Al Khaimah
- Al Hamra
Shopping Mall (forum topic), in Al Hamra Village on the way
in to RAK from Dubai, expected to open by end 2007, 100 shops in
an area of about 36,000 sq m (360,000 sq ft), including the usual
outlets, foodcourt and perhaps a Spinneys
supermarket?
Tel +971-7-2447275, website (still under construction) www.alhamramall.com,
- Manar Mall - in Nakheel area. Movie theaters, food court, banks,
variety of shops and a Carrefour.
Shopping Malls in Sharjah
- Sahara Center - coming from Dubai on the DXB-SHJ highway, turn right
at the intersection after Al Mulla Plaza (there may be a Sahara Center
signpost). Good for clothes shops.
- Mega Mall - on main road through Sharjah from Dubai. Has a Carrefour.
Comments or Questions about this page?
This information last updated
Saturday 21-Jun-2008
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