Dubai Festival City embarks on phase two of expansion

Dubai Festival City has launched the second phase of its retail expansion. The extension will have an enlarged festival square on the side of the creek and brings the Swedish retailer H&M to its retail line-up.

Festival City joins Mall of Emirates, Wafi Mall, Ibn Batuta and BurJuman in recently announcing extensions and new retail outlets.

“Launching the second phase of the mall’s expansion is testament to our commitment towards our stakeholders and Dubai’s growth and marks a significant milestone in our forward thinking expansion plans,” said Murray Bell, the managing director of retail at Al-Futtaim Group Real Estate.

“The opening of H&M’s store at Dubai Festival City Mall is a clear indication of the growing trust and confidence shown by leading regional and international retailers in our planned expansion that will further grow, enhance and strengthen our retail, leisure and dining offers.”

Malls, much like hotels, have to enhance, extend and refresh their retail line-up to keep customers coming through their doors. Festival City’s makeover is part of a business cycle, however it has faced increasing pressure from competition and a design that left some areas of the mall underpopulated.

“Festival city is refurbishing and redesigning its existing space,” said Craig Plumb, the head of research at the property consultancy JLL. “It has been facing increased competition since the opening of Mirdif City Centre in 2011, which has taken some traffic away from Dubai Festival City but with the expansion and enhancement projects in other malls there is increased competition.

“There were some design issues with the layout which were widely recognised by the management and now they are trying to improve the flows of people throughout the mall to help these ‘dead’ areas.”

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