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*The IADS visited Dubai in early March for a joint meeting with the International University of Monaco and the American University in Dubai, who will be collaborating with the Association on Private Labels-related research topics. The IADS took the occasion to visit the Dubai Mall and the Mall of the Emirates to review the department store scene in Dubai, we have included pictures for your review.

Most of the department stores available in Dubai are operated through franchised agreements. Is there anything new in their approach, has any decoupling taken place, or, on the contrary, did the Covid-19 episode tighten the links with the mother companies? And to what extent does their service offering reflect the evolution of the market? We have tried to draw some conclusions from our visit in addition to the pictures that are available separately.*

Introduction: overview of the visited malls

The Dubai Mall, which opened in 2008, is the second-largest mall in the world, with half a million square meters surface spread over 4 floors and 1,200+ stores. Its many attractions (an aquarium and underwater zoo, a VR Park, cinemas and children’s activities, Bloomingdale’s, Debenhams and Galeries Lafayette department stores) made the mall a Dubai touristic attraction. It is operated by Emaar Properties, a public joint-stock company whose logo is ubiquitous on Dubai towers. Emaar Properties is primarily a real estate building company, involved in the building of the Burj Khalifa and the Dubai Fountain in Dubai, but also in other projects in Egypt, India, KSA, Syria, Turkey and Pakistan. It initiated mall management operations after completing the Dubai Mall.

The Mall of the Emirates, opened in 2005, is smaller, with 223.000 commercial square meters dedicated to 630+ boutiques, including Harvey Nichols, Debenhams and Level Shoes department stores or equivalents. It made the headlines upon completion with the opening of the world’s largest indoor ski slope and is owned by the Majid Al Futtaim Group, which specialises in mall management, retail, leisure, entertainment and hospitality.

When asked about the two malls, it is common to hear long-term Dubai residents mentioning that the Dubai Mall is great for a weekend excursion, but they usually do not see it as a staple destination for everyday purchases (due to the traffic and dimensions of the space). As a consequence, the Mall of the Emirates stands more as an option for a human-sized everyday shopping destination, even though it is probably suffering more than the Dubai Mall of the competition created by the new malls opened in other parts of the city since then. The Mall of the Emirates, which can not compete with Dubai Mall in terms of the number of attractions, also tries to provide a sense of luxury to local customers in terms of communication, overall feeling and atmosphere.

However, at the time of visit, the sentiment was that the Mall of the Emirates was feeling worn out when compared to the Dubai Mall, where everything, public premises, service spaces, and even mall attendants’ level of knowledge, felt in better shape and more looked after. This was exactly the contrary when entering stores, as levels of attention provided by retail staff in the Mall of Emirates was incomparable with the ones in Dubai Mall where no attention was given to visitors, reinforcing local customers’ opinion.

Debenhams (franchise operated by Alshaya Group) – Dubai Mall and Mall of the Emirates

Debenhams, the British department store chain founded in 1778, went into liquidation in December 2020 and closed down all 101 stores in the United Kingdom within June 2021. The brand was acquired by Boohoo in January 2021.

However, this did not impact Debenhams’ partner in the Middle East, Kuwaiti group Alshaya, which started the partnership as early as 1997. Alshaya has since the bankruptcy announcement made a deal to retain the franchise rights with Boohoo, and operates a total of 23 in-mall stores in Kuwait, KSA, UAE, Bahrain, Egypt, Oman and Qatar, in various formats. In Dubai, there are 6 locations: 3 department stores (Mall of the Emirates, Dubai Mall, City Centre) and 3 Debenhams cosmetics stores.

IADS visited the two Dubai Mall and Mall of the Emirates locations. The feeling was rather different from one location to another, and paradoxically, the Dubai Mall location felt more worn than the Mall of the Emirates One, probably because of its smaller dimensions.

Debenhams Dubai Mall 

The store extends on one floor with very few windows and a rather classical store planning: cosmetic space at the entrance (a black generic concept with logos), then RTW (M, W, kids) and other categories.

In-store fixtures include brands-separating walls in the central section of the RTW area, giving a somehow suffocating feeling, reinforced by the very dense visual merchandising, with overcrowded racks. As a consequence, it gave a ‘bazaar’ feeling, reinforced by ubiquitous price reduction signs. At the time of visit, the location was empty with staff busy unboxing products and not paying attention to visitors.

Debenhams Mall of the Emirates

The store spans over 3 floors and gives a much more positive feeling than the Dubai Mall location, at least on the ground floor (cosmetics with brand concept corners, lingerie and accessories). Staff is omnipresent, welcoming and eager to help visitors. Lighting and the feeling of space are refreshing and give a very positive impression.

The 2 other floors are dedicated to fashion: Women’s on the 1F and Mens, Kids and Home on the 2F. Women’s fashion was overloaded with products and dense VM, however, this did not seem to deter customers from buying (Debenhams is popular in Dubai for middle-income families looking for bargains and low prices). On the upper floor, the feeling, especially in the home section, was clear and nice. In both 1F and 2F, staff was non-existent or not interested in helping or even saluting customers.

No specific services were mentioned or advertised at cash desks in both locations. The Debenhams website for the Middle East, announced by Alshaya for early 2022, is still not active at the time of writing.

Galeries Lafayette (franchise operated by Admic) – Dubai Mall

Galeries Lafayette and BHV department stores in the Middle East are managed by Admic, a Lebanese company founded in 1996. Galeries Lafayette in Dubai Mall, spanning over 21,500 square metres and 3 floors, opened in 2009 and is easy to find thanks to the mall’s public signs as a significant anchor.

The store is also extremely visible from afar, especially because of the ubiquitous branding visible from the atrium. It also emphasizes that the store’s main logos are not updated, clashing with the current “Time the time to smile” campaign on the windows with the new Galeries Lafayette logo introduced in 2017. This can be confusing for customers, especially the ones already familiar with the French locations or website, and who might be surprised to see an old-school logo on the building (shopping bags display the new logo).

The ground floor is dedicated to luxury accessories and international brands (LV, Gucci, Dior, Marc Jacobs, Valentino…) in peripheral sections, and low-rise corners with brands’ concepts dedicated to cosmetics in the centre, giving overall visibility, and a feeling of luxury and space.

On the first floor, dedicated to fashion (M, W) with flexible walls which can be moved to change brands or sections, there is a mix of local and international brands’ shop in shops fitted with their own concepts (Missoni, Ba&h…). It is therefore really possible to have 2 different feelings, one being that local brands are overrepresented, and the other one being that GL displays its savoir-faire in terms of fashion merchandising. The dressy space (an important market in the Middle East) is represented by Etoile La Boutique, a retailer specialized in evening gowns, and an extremely good-looking and inviting wedding dresses space at the entrance. The shoe space on the same floor is somehow less efficient as it is difficult to see the products. The Men’s section is also equipped in a flexible generic concept, with the exception of a few brands (Pal Zileri, Hugo Boss, Hackett, Polo Ralph Lauren).

The second floor is dedicated to kids, home and gourmet. The whole floor is in low rise concept, independently of the category, to make the gourmet space visible and accessible, which further emphasizes the logo mix-up (pre-2017, post-2017) in the Gourmet section.

Cash desks are all located in peripheral locations, forcing sales associates to ask customers to follow them to finalize sales, which seems surprising to ask of demanding Middle Eastern customers. At cash desks, no specific services are mentioned or advertised.

Bloomingdale’s (Dubai Mall) and Harvey Nichols (Mall of Emirates) (franchises operated by Al Tayer)

Al Tayer is a UAE-based conglomerate founded in 1979, operating in automotive, retail, hospitality, services and entertainment in the Middle East. It opened the largest Harvey Nichols store outside of the UK in 2006 in Mall of the Emirates, and the first Bloomingdale’s store outside of the US in 2010 in Dubai Mall.

Bloomingdale’s in Dubai Mall

Bloomingdale’s Dubai extends into 2 sections: a 3 floor department store dedicated to fashion, over 14,600 square metres, and a home store on the lower ground over 5,400 square metres (not visited). Like Galeries Lafayette, located in the opposite side of the Dubai Mall, it is extremely visible and accessible through an appropriate signage.

The ground floor is dedicated to cosmetics in the central section, and luxury accessories and shoes (but also a Gucci store with all categories) in a “drum”, with direct access to the valet parking. The size, level of attention and energy in the Cosmetics section suggests that this is where the turnover is made. Sunglasses and custom jewellery are also presented in this section but are hardly visible and not really appealing. In the “drum”, all brands are displayed in their own concept, with the exception of a generic space in the central Accessories and Shoes section where some brands are repeated (Saint Laurent, Valentino, Balenciaga).

On the first floor dedicated to Women’s fashion, only Gucci, Moncler and Keepsake have their own concepts, the rest of the brands are presented in generic sections on specific racks (which are different from the Men’s section ones). The dressy and luxury section is not specifically outstanding in terms of visual differentiation when compared to the rest of the floor, and the personal shopper’s entrance is not appealing. What is striking is a combination of smart initiatives (the Chanel fragrance chariot in a strategic location near the escalators) and the lack of services, including seating areas.

The second floor dedicated to Men’s and Kid’s is visually different, and most brands have their own concept. The personal section is appealing, with a barber, a fragrance section, and many seating spaces where to spend time. Men’s shoes are presented in a generic section and there is also a contemporary space, poorly accessible and not engaging due to the way the space is structured. The Kids section is experiential and festive, with a specific ambience and non-brand-dedicated staff.

At no point during the visit were services or Covid-related instructions mentioned. Also, the Visual Merchandising was somehow confusing and did not help to make products visible. This is all the more curious that the VM at Harvey Nichols is extremely efficient, and an executive at Al Tayer explained to us that both stores were managed by separate teams.

Harvey Nichols Mall of the Emirates

Harvey Nichols extends on 3 levels at a corner of the Luxury avenue. Signage in the mall and overall visibility is probably less efficient than for Bloomingdale’s in Dubai Mall.

The ground floor is dedicated to Accessories, Shoes and Beauty and all brands are displayed in their own concept. Visual Merchandising is extremely efficient and the space is one of the best seen during the visit.

The first floor, dedicated to Women’s fashion, is clear, welcoming and spacious. The play on colour in the atrium is similar to what Saks Fifth Avenue has done in New York, and the multi-brand space is commercially efficient. Visual Merchandising is exemplary.

The second floor, dedicated to Men’s and Kids, displays shop in shops in peripheral and central sections, with a very good display of shoes. Some questions are raised by the brand zoning (e.g. Gucci kids near Kenzo adults).

Harvey Nichols was one of the most appealing locations visited during this trip. It is (justifiably) seen as a reference by brands when trying to enter the Dubai market.

Level Shoes (original concept from Chalhoub Group) – Dubai Mall

Chalhoub Group, founded in 1955 and specialized in fashion and luxury retail operations in the Middle East, has launched Level Shoes in 2012 in the Dubai Mall over 9,600 square metres. It is not really a department store nor a shoe shop, but a “shoes & accessories district” and Chalhoub Group refurbished it in early 2020 in a spectacular fashion.

All international brands are presented either in their own-concept shop in shops in peripheral sections or in luxurious generic areas in the centre. The overall feeling is not far from a large and luxurious department store, with many welcoming seating areas, popup zones, and dedicated salespersons (attached to each brand).

Level Shoes is the only space visited where Click & Collect is advertised and proposed with appropriate signage. When IADS discussed this Click & Collect topic (or its lack of in most of the visited locations) with the Dubai Mall General Manager, he mentioned that this was the kind of service that the Dubai Mall was willing to develop at its own level, and a new section is currently being developed to welcome and accommodate customers coming to retrieve their click & collect purchases in a Dubai Mall premise, and not in each shop.

*Is Dubai still worth a retail trip? Yes, to see to what extent the need for services and retailer brand differentiation is not the same from one region to another. The most striking point during the visit was the fact that many brands were over-represented due to the multiplication of points of sales: in Dubai Mall only, Saint Laurent is represented in the Bloomingdales Accessories section (shop in shop + generic), in the Bloomingdales WRTW section (racks + double shoes/accessories exposure), in the Bloomingdales MRTW section (racks + additional shoe section), in the Level Shoes area (shop in shop) in addition to the brand’s own retail store, leading to a total of 7 locations for this mall only. Is it enough for local retailers to stand out with an international offer that can be available somewhere else?

Our conversation with the Dubai Mall General Manager suggests that they anticipate that the need for services and additional care, that is spreading in the rest of the world, is growing and that they might be looking to be part of the solution. Department Stores might want to follow what they do when it comes to Click & Collect and, above all, how they articulate it in terms of business model with brands, as this might come as an inspiration.*

Credits: IADS (Selvane Mohandas du Ménil)