Forget London’s Regent Street, New York’s Fifth Avenue and Paris’ Champs-Elysees, Dubai’s The Dubai Mall has been announced as the world’s best shopping destination.
According to the latest Global Retail Destination Index 2016 from Savills, The Dubai Mall ranked in first place in terms of the overall quality of its retail facilities and amenities, with customers claiming it offered the best overall shopping experience.
Read: Women’s Shopping Habits In Dubai Revealed
In fact, 84 per cent of people questioned for the index said Dubai has the best choice and quality of shops in the world. To be fair, is it really surprising when you consider all of your fave designer and high street stores are all under one glamorous and air-conditioned roof?
Waterfall at The Dubai Mall
The report measured the various retail attributes held by London’s West End and compared them to six other leading cities: Dubai, New York, Paris, Milan, Hong Kong and Singapore.
Read: Over 10 New Super-Malls To Open In Dubai And Abu Dhabi
The Dubai Mall locations were based on their brand positioning in comparison to the key retail destinations in the West End. This meant the different strips within the mall, for example, the Star/Grand Atrium strip, Fashion Catwalk and Fashion Avenue were treated like a ‘street’.
The Dubai Mall
The results of the index revealed that out of the cities monitored Dubai is the most likely to continue in its growth in the retail market. “Dubai is forecast to report the strongest growth in retail sales over the next five years of the seven Global Cities examined,” read the report, “potentially challenging London’s West End’s current global position.”
Read: Confessions Of The Shopping Savvy
David Godchaux of Core, the UAE Associate of Savills added: “Dubai is now perceived as a top global retail destination. But this is only the tip of the iceberg as we now start seeing developers trying to improve the shopping experience not only for tourists as in the past 15 years, but also for residents. This trend of moving away from the ‘bigger is better’ approach, to more user and resident friendly retail developments, bringing a real city experience and European-style shopping to areas of Dubai similar to those found in London, Paris and Milan, is something that was much awaited by the market and that we see finally happening.”
Here’s Five Reasons We Love The Dubai Mall
1. The Fountains
How many malls do you know that come with amazing views of the a giant lake and Bellagio-esque fountains? Order some sushi at The Social, pick an outdoor seat and be entertained by the water works.
2. The Aquarium
The Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo is the largest suspended aquarium in the world, naturally. It is home to thousands of aquatic animals, and over 140 species. Visitors can see over 300 sharks and rays live in the tank, including the largest collection of Sand Tiger sharks in the world.
The Dubai Aquarium
3. The Ice Rink
Ice skating in the desert, it’s just such a contradiction that it has to be done.
4. The Waterfall Illusion
Did you know that if you stare at the waterfall long enough the diving men disappear?!
5. The Shoe Shopping
While the mall has virtually every fashion store you can think of, it also has two dedicated areas just for shoes – every woman’s dream! Level Shoe District has 9,6000 sq ft dedicated to designer footwear and the recently opened Shoe Box, located on the first floor of Galeries Lafayette. Spread over 500 square metres it offers more than 400 pairs of shoes.
Galeries Lafayette Dubai Shoe Box
Images: Getty
