Majid Al Futtaim reinvents the mall

From the company known for its super-sized retail bazaars now comes My City Centre, which promises to be a “new neighbourhood retail concept”.

Majid Al Futtaim sized-down mall My City Centre in Nasseriya, Sharjah. Silvia Razgova / The National
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You may have thought it impossible, but Majid Al Futtaim has invented an entirely new kind of mall.

From the company known for its super-sized retail bazaars now comes My City Centre, which promises to be a “new neighbourhood retail concept”. These are smaller malls, basically, with added community features, such as banks and cafes.

The first, which will cost the firm Dh84 million to build, will be located in Nasseriya, Sharjah.

It will have 21 stores – making it slight by comparison to the nearby Sharjah Mega Mall – for local residents to make day-to-day purchases. The new mall have a Carrefour and a number of banks, restaurants, and cafes, including a McDonald’s, a Baskin Robbins, and a Shakespeare and Co.

The company has plans to introduce more new community malls, yet to be announced, according to a spokesman.

The community’s malls main aim is to increase local retail options for nearby residents, so that they don’t have to make the long trek to the emirate’s biggest malls.

And places to relax will allow consumers to while away the hours in comfort.

“[It will] act as a social hub for the local community,” said Ali Al Hashimi, the mall’s manager. “[The mall] will cater to a variety of immediate, daily needs from grocery shopping to banking and dining.”

“[We are] creating a tailored product dedicated to meet the needs of residents in local communities,” said Dimitri Vazelakis, the managing director of shopping malls at Majid Al Futtaim.

This announcement follows the appointment of former Union Properties executive Simon Azzam to head up Majid Al Futtaim’s Communities business unit.

The company is currently spending Dh1 billion renovating the Mall of the Emirates, and a further Dh200 million on Sharjah City Centre.

abouyamourn@thenational.ae