Features

Retail in Dubai: Shop and Play

16 Oct 2017 by Neha Gupta Kapoor
CITY CENTRE MIRDIF

Last year, real estate consultancy firm, CBRE published findings from its survey that ranks Dubai second after London as “the most important shopping destination in the world”. The emirate has held this position for six consecutive years so far. In its 2016 edition of “How Global is the Business of Retail?”, as reported by Arabian Business, CBRE goes on to say that of all the retail brands in Dubai, international brands make up about 57 per cent.

Dubai’s retail sector can easily attribute its growth to fashion and beauty enthusiasts who see much value in investing in such products. Next, tourists from neighbouring countries and especially India find it more feasible to shop when on holiday here, because of the absence of consumption taxes. This benefits retailers too. But some of the main reasons for Dubai being attractive to retail brands is affordable real estate, location of malls and the strategic position of Dubai — between the east and the west — on the world map.

Here is a look at four places where you can enjoy a good dose of retail therapy, coupled with some recreational activities.

CITY CENTRE MIRDIF

It is the first shopping mall in the region to acquire a LEED certification. City Centre Mirdif uses less water and energy, and emits reduced greenhouse gases as compared to the other malls in Dubai. The certification is commendable for a structure of this scale that has over 430 stores, in addition to leisure and entertainment attractions that include a spa, grooming salons, gym and F&B outlets.

Fashion brands range from street to luxury. To name a few, you will find H&M, Cotton On, Zara, Sketchers, Armani Exchange, Banana Republic, Hackett, Mont Blanc and Ted Baker here. City Centre Mirdif is also the place to visit if you’re looking to buy home appliances, electronics and furniture.

Entertainment

On the first floor is Magic Planet with family-friendly rides and games. One of the more popular attractions here is Orbi Dubai, which is a multi-sensory custom-built theatre with a 35-metre wide screen, audio-visual technology and interactive walk-through touch-points where visitors can “explore the mysteries of nature”. (Open Sunday-Wednesday 10am-10pm, Thursday-Saturday until midnight; ticket prices start from AED 100/₹1,747; orbidubai.com There is also iFly, an indoor skydiving space; Sky Trail, an eight-metre climbing wall; Yalla! a bowling alley; and a ten-screen cinema complex at the mall.

Services

Those unfamiliar with Dubai will find the mall’s free shuttle bus service helpful. It connects to select hotels in the vicinity. Free wifi is available to all visitors, as are photocopy and fax facilities. You may even plan a visit to this mall a few hours before your flight because of the convenience of a luggage room that offers to hold your suitcases for free.

City Centre Mirdif is located in the residential area of Mirdif on Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road, and is open Sunday-Wednesday 10am-10pm, Thursday-Saturday until midnight; citycentremirdif.com.

MALL OF THE EMIRATES

MALL OF THE EMIRATES

This multi-level shopping centre features around 630 outlets under fashion, lifestyle, sports, electronics and home furnishing, as well as department stores and more than 90 F&B options. In its Fashion Dome and Luxury Wing, there are over 80 international designer brands including Alexander McQueen, Audemars Piguet, Bugatti, Bvlgari, Canali, Chopard, Fendi, Givenchy, Louis Vuitton and Vertu.

Entertainment

Art enthusiasts will find interest in DUCTAC (Dubai Community Theatre and Art Centre), a hub for Dubai’s creative community. Performances, exhibitions and workshops take place every evening at the various venues here that include a 543-seat theatre, a black box studio theatre, The Gallery of Light, dance and rehearsal studios, and 18 art studios and classrooms. On October 13, DUCTAC will showcase a performance by Sufi singers and musicians from Amritsar — ENBD Classics: The Wadali Brothers.

Mall of the Emirates too has a Magic Planet. It offers a host of rides and games, which include a racing simulator, RoboCoaster: a two-person ride, and a 4D theatre experience. There is also a dome with artificial snow in the mall. It has a ski school, penguin encounter arena where you can play with the birds for a few minutes, and enjoy rides on the snow. VOX Cinemas here has 14 screens.

Services

Mall of the Emirates has a luggage storing facility that is located near the metro link. Photocopy facilities are available too. A free shuttle bus service connects to hotels along Sheikh Zayed Road and Jumeirah Beach. Wifi is free to all visitors.

Mall of the Emirates is open Sunday-Wednesday 10am-10pm, Thursday-Saturday until midnight; malloftheemirates.com.

Dubai Mall

THE DUBAI MALL

Located in Downtown Dubai, the mall describes itself as “the centre of now”. It has over 1,200 retail outlets including two department stores — Galeries Lafayette and Bloomingdale’s — luxury and street brands from local and international labels, jewellery and accessory stores, handicraft, cosmetics, beauty products, traditional Arab clothing, and over 200 F&B outlets.

Entertainment

When it opened, The Dubai Mall made waves with its aquarium that is home to nearly 1,000 aquatic creatures. Best views of the showcase are through a 270-degree walkthrough tunnel. This was intended to be part of the kids’ entertainment facilities, but is enjoyed by adults as well.

The 22-screen Reel Cinemas Megaplex has a total of 2,800 seats, and the ice rink here meets Olympic Games standards. In the evenings, one can enjoy an impressive sound and light show at Promenade, the outdoor part  of the mall with 3D displays projected on the man-made lake.

As for those interested in taking in a 360-degree panoramic view of the emirate, the mall offers tickets to visit levels 148 and 125 of Burj Khalifa, directly accessible through the malls’ lower ground floor. Each visit lasts for 30 minutes. It is advisable to buy tickets in advance to avoid long queues. Besides, only a limited number of “immediate entry” tickets are available at the mall. (Open 8:30am-5pm and 7:30pm until closing time; ticket prices start from AED 125/₹2,184; tickets.atthetop.ae.)

On the ground floor of the mall, there is a flight simulator — the Emirates A380 Experience — which gives a feel of what it’s like to fly the largest commercial aeroplane. (Open Sunday-Wednesday 10am-10pm, Thursday-Saturday until midnight; ticket prices start from AED 325/₹5,679; thedubaimall.com/en/

Services

Wifi is available for free to all visitors. The Dubai Mall also has porter service, personal shoppers, photocopy, printing and shipping facilities. The Dubai Mall is open daily from 10am-midnight; thedubaimall.com.

Dubai Duty Free

DUBAI DUTY FREE

If you couldn’t squeeze in a visit to the mall when in Dubai, scheduling a few hours at Dubai Duty Free (DDF) would be worth your time. There is a total of 35,400 sqm of retail space at Dubai International Airport, which includes displays by brands such as Apple, Bose, Chivas Regal, Chopard, Gucci, La Prarie, Marc Jacobs, Panasonic, Samsung and Tumi. On its website, DDF boasts of its popularity by stating that it is the “biggest travel retail operator in the world with a sales turnover of US$1.85 billion in 2016”.

DDF has an online portal too through which flyers may pre-order items from 30 days to 48 hours before departure, on arrival or in transit at Dubai Airport. These can be picked up at the airports’ Online Collection Point or Webshop. When shopping online, flyers must enter their flight details as per the flight ticket when checking out. The items may be collected at least three hours before scheduled departure or immediately after arrival. While there is an option to pay at the collection point, it means that you have to wait longer for the shopping to be collected and handed to you, as opposed to those who have paid by card. In case of the latter, the items are already waiting for you at the Webshop.

Other services include a buggy facility for transit passengers in Terminal 3 “from the baggage screening section to any one of the two DDF shops in the arrivals”. Transit passengers in Terminals 1 and 3 can make purchases in arrivals and collect them in departures.

DDF has partnered with Emirates Skywards wherein the airline’s loyalty members can redeem Skyward miles to shop. A minimum of 4,500 Miles (equivalent to AED 75/₹1,310) is needed to start shopping with miles. Further, each additional dirham spent at DDF is equivalent to 60 Skywards Miles. Members have the option to pay for purchases using a combination of miles and cash or credit card. However, not all DDF outlets accept miles — online.dubaidutyfree.com has a list of which ones are excluded from the partnership. dubaidutyfree.com

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