Record Number of Shoppers at Al Ghurair Centre

Footfall up 50% and sales up 30% from previous year as extensive renovations and new big name brands draw shoppers 

Visitors to Al Ghurair Centre were up by more than a half from a year earlier during Ramadan and Eid, as the benefits of extensive renovations and expansion attracted record numbers of shoppers.

Dubai’s first shopping mall, in Deira, recorded footfall increases over the Ramadan and Eid holiday period in excess of 50 percent compared with the same period in 2014.  

The surge in shoppers included successive days of more than 70,000 visitors on each of the first three days of the Eid period.  

The increase is also being felt in cash registers across the mall’s 350 tenants, with sales showing a 30 percent increase on the same trading period last year.  

According to David Thurling, VP-Malls, the combination of a comprehensive re-leasing programme, bringing over 200 new international brands to the mall, a unique and highly effective marketing strategy and the completion of the mall’s expansion is starting to pay dividends.  

“I would think on basic metrics such as footfall and sales increases, we would be the best performing mall in Dubai at present,” said Thurling.   

Over the last two years, Al Ghurair Centre has undergone an AED 2 billion refurbishment that doubled the size of its retail area.

One of the mall’s biggest recent additions is the new 75,000 sq ft Carrefour Hypermarket, which has exceeded performance expectations.

The mall is quickly approaching the completion of its new outdoor dining district with restaurants set to start open as early as mid -August. 

“We will be progressively upgrading the streetscape to provide our customers with a fantastic new external F&B environment,” said Thurling. “Over 22 new restaurant concepts are in the process of opening and we expect the full list to be trading by the winter months.” 

Brands setting up home at the mall include internationally renowned Chinese restaurant Din Tai Fung , Bestoon Samad, the popular Arabic/Iraqi food concept, Atisuto for Japanese food, Sangeetha for classic vegetarian Indian cuisine, Max’s Chicken, the hugely popular Philippine brand, and Denny’s family diner.