Business tight as malls corner Abu Dhabi shops

Small traders rue loss of their customers but shoppers welcome the convenience of one-stop retailing.

Before malls arrived in the capital, street-front shops met the city's retailing needs. Delores Johnson / The National

Small traders fear they will be squeezed out of downtown Abu Dhabi as millions of square feet of retail space in shopping malls are built. Modern shopping centres in the capital offer a variety of shopping options, free parking and air conditioning, leaving the smaller players struggling for their survival. "We used to be the place where people came to shop but now many are no longer coming to us, they go to the malls," says Khamis Hussain, a jewellery trader.

The gross leasable area for shopping malls in the emirate is expected to jump 253 per cent, from 398,800 sq metres at the start of this year to 1.4 million sqmetres by 2012, according to the Colliers MENA region property report for this year. The report says two of the largest shopping centres being built will be completed within two years. Danet Mall, with a gross leasable area of 185,000 sq metres, is expected to be finished next year and Yas Mall, with a gross leasable area of 296,000 sq metres, is expected to be completed in 2012.

Before the arrival of big malls in the capital, the retailing needs of the city were met by the small traders in street-front shops. Certain streets in Abu Dhabi became known for selling specific goods, such as Defence Street for mobile phones, Elektra Street for electronics and Hamdan Street for jewellery. "It was like one business starts somewhere and it succeeds, then everybody else establishes the same kind of business in that location hoping for the same kind of success," says Mahmoud Gaber, a long-time resident of the capital.

Mr Gaber says these small businesses played a vital role in the growth of Abu Dhabi. "Now we are losing out because they go to big malls which are fancier than us," says Mahmoud Salim, an electronics retailer in Elektra Street. Some Abu Dhabi residents say they appreciate the role small businesses played in shaping the city, but think they have outlived their relevance. "I think the idea of driving to four or five different places to do your shopping is becoming outdated," says one resident, Salma Hamid.

"So I now prefer a one-stop shopping in the mall where I find everything I want, free of commuting here and there and free of increasingly bad traffic." Maryam Yousef, another resident, says: "I think it's more stylish, especially for us young people, to go to a mall where we can hang out, shop, eat and do other things rather than going to Hamdan Street or Defence Street. "Those places are not cool for us. They don't even have amenities."

Abu Dhabi's wealth of new malls is attracting much interest abroad. "The expansion of shopping centres had just begun to take off in Abu Dhabi and it is expected to increase further," a retailing report by Euromonitor International said this year. "The development and opening of shopping centres is expected to put Abu Dhabi firmly on the global retailing map." Despite the ambitious expansion plans and the rapid migration of their customers to the malls, the capital's small traders say they hope to keep some loyal customers who will continue to value their historic role.

"So we will continue to stay open for them and to preserve our part of the city's heritage," says Muhammed Qasim, a jeweller in Hamdan Street.