Dubai Mall opening delayed

Vivian Salama

• Last Updated: October 29. 2008 6:31PM UAE / October 29. 2008 2:31PM GMT

The last minute postponement will come as a disappointment to retailers working around the clock to prepare for the opening tomorrow. Jeffrey E Biteng / The National

DUBAI // Today’s highly anticipated opening of Dubai Mall, the centrepiece of Emaar Properties’ sprawling central Dubai project, has been hit by a last-minute delay.

Retailers received word from Emaar executives at about noon yesterday that the partial opening of what is to be one of the world’s largest malls would be pushed back until next Tuesday.

A letter sent to retailers by Yousif al Ali, the general manager of Dubai Mall, said the opening date had been postponed because of the need to prepare the mall more adequately for an influx of shoppers.

“The added time will enable us to create an impactful difference to our visitors from day one,” Mr Ali said in the letter. “This is to ensure that finishing touches to infrastructure are addressed and ready to deliver the best possible customer experience from day one.”

The postponement is the latest in a series of delays. The mall had originally been scheduled to open in Nov 2006, but that date was quickly revised to a more realistic date of Aug 28 this year. Emaar blamed additions to the mall’s design and construction issues as causes for those delays. However, just weeks ahead of the August opening, mall officials again amended the date to today.

In an interview earlier this week, Mr Ali said the previous delays had helped to ensure that all parties involved in the mall’s launch would be adequately prepared.

“The added time ensures smoother operation of traffic and public services infrastructure such as roads, car parking and entry/exit to the mall,” he said at the time.

“Retailers also benefit as the additional time has allowed for a more thorough fit-out of their stores and has given more time for merchandising, training and other key operational aspects which needed to be finalised.”

However, the latest postponement comes as a disappointment to many retailers who have been working frantically to prepare their stores for trade this morning. Many companies have stocked up on winter products and any further delays could see the seasonal stock go to waste.

“It is very frustrating because there are so many things – access to parking, dirt, construction everywhere around the mall, coming in and out,” said one retailer, who wished to remain anonymous.

“Many retailers are ready but the glass for the store fronts has not been delivered because the mall has very high ceilings and the glass has to be specially ordered,” added Ishwar Chugani, the Middle East executive director of Giordano, a Hong Kong-based retailer. “We are all excited about the opening and we’ve mobilised our people, but at the end of the day, if the place is not ready, what can we do?”

Officials operating the mall had originally said that 165 retailers would open by this morning.

When the mall does open it will include more than 1,200 stores, the world’s largest indoor gold souq, an Olympic-size ice skating rink and one of the world’s largest aquariums – all spanning an area equivalent to 50 football fields. It is part of the city’s ambitious goal to house 4.25 million square metres of retail space by 2010, up from 1.17 million square metres in 2006 and an increase of 263 per cent. There have been delays in several major developments, including Emaar’s Burj Dubai, the tallest building in the world that is rising adjacent to the Dubai Mall. The tower’s completion is at least a year behind schedule.

Nicolas Maclean, the Middle East managing director for the property consultancy CB Richard Ellis, said it was customary to err on the conservative side on a delivery date for projects of this scale, then surprise the market by delivering early.

“I think the plan Emaar put together was too ambitious and they should have been more cautious about announcing when they would open,” he said. “You have to be ready and you cannot continue to delay step by step, otherwise you will not have the maximum impact when the mall finally opens.”

Others believe that Emaar is not exclusively to blame for the last-minute hold-up, saying that such a huge project will inevitably experience delays.

“You can’t blame the retailers entirely, but you can’t blame the mall entirely,” said Naeem Ghafoor, the chief executive of Skyline Retail Services Consultancy. “When you do something of this scale, it is difficult to pinpoint an exact opening date – this is a massive, massive, massive operation.”

vsalama@thenational.ae