His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum to formally open the world’s largest mall today
1. Opening attraction is the launch of The Dubai Fountain, the world’s tallest performing fountain
2. Month-long Festival@The Dubai Mall marks the grand opening
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President & Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, will formally open The Dubai Mall, the world’s largest shopping mall, on May 8, 2009 (Friday). The opening ceremony will be marked by the spectacular unveiling of The Dubai Fountain, the world’s tallest performing water-music spectacle.
In less than six months since its soft-opening in November 2008, The Dubai Mall has established itself as a world-class retail and leisure destination with over 900 retail stores. By September of this year, the mall will host over 1,200 stores – the largest collection of retail brands under one roof. Sprawling over an area of 12 million sq ft, with a gross leasable area of 3.77 million sq ft, The Dubai Mall features several flagship stores and Middle East debuts of global brands.
The mall is also one of the largest family leisure destinations in the region: The Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo, already a crowd-puller, holds the Guinness World Record for the world’s largest acrylic panel and has over 33,000 aquatic animals. The Olympic-sized Dubai Ice-Rink is another popular family attraction and The Waterfall, that traverses four levels of the mall, is a preferred meeting place for families and friends. Later this year, the mall will open the region’s first KidZania® – an innovative children’s edutainment concept; SEGA Republic – a high adrenaline indoor theme park; and the 22-screen REEL Cinema with a total capacity of 2,800 seats. For the convenience of visitors, the mall offers 14,000 car parking spaces.
Mr Mohamed Alabbar, Chairman, Emaar Properties, said: “The Dubai Mall is a celebration of the commanding presence of Dubai on the global retail map. One of the most preferred choices for international retailers, the mall has been envisaged as a captivating family destination and will further strengthen the retail growth of Dubai. We are thankful to His Highness Sheikh Mohammed for his support and patronage of this global project.â€
The formal opening of the mall is being celebrated with a month-long spectacular shopping and entertainment extravaganza – the Festival@The Dubai Mall. Eight days into the festival, The Dubai Mall has hosted nearly a million shoppers, and retailers have recorded a significant increase in sales – a clear indication that consumer confidence in Dubai’s economy is on the rise. To continue through May 29, 2009, the festival offers millions of dirhams in raffle draws apart from a Grand Bentley raffle, Bid 2 Win auction and mall-wide entertainment.
The crowning glory of the opening celebration is the unveiling of The Dubai Fountain, which after being tested over the past few weeks, will now present a full-colour performance of dancing jets set to popular songs from Arabic and world music.
As the new leisure attraction in Downtown Burj Dubai, Emaar’s 500-acre mega-project, The Dubai Fountain will be an added attraction for the mall visitors. Set on the 30-acre Burj Dubai Lake, the fountain shoots water jets as high as 500 ft (150 metres), equivalent to that of a 50-storey building.
The fountain is 900 ft (295 ft) long and has five circles of varying sizes and two central arcs. It has been designed by California-based WET, the creators of the Fountains of Bellagio in Las Vegas. Over 6,600 WET Superlights – the most advanced incandescent large fountain lights available today – and 25 colour projectors create a visual spectrum of over 1,000 abstract attractions.
Some of the songs selected for the fountain’s spectacularly choreographed music and visual show include Baba Yetu, an award-winning and hugely popular song in Swahili composed by Christopher Tin for the computer game ‘Civilization IV;’ the Arab world’s top-selling dance number Shik Shak Shok by Hassan Abou El Seoud; and the signature piece of world-renowned Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, Con te partiro (Time to Say Goodbye).
The colour spectrum and rhythmic movements of the fountain are achieved through the teamwork of several world-class technicians and choreographers. The entire fountain sits atop a network of underground tunnels and connected equipment rooms creating several hundred square meters of dry serviceable space below Burj Dubai Lake.
About The Dubai Mall:
The Dubai Mall is the world’s largest shopping and entertainment destination spread over a total area of 12 million sq ft. With a total internal floor area of 5.9 million sq ft, the mall has 3.77 million sq ft of gross leasable space which hosts 1,200 retail stores including over 160 food and beverage outlets in food courts that have a capacity to seat 3,000.
The Dubai Mall offers an unparalleled retail mix combined with world-class dining, entertainment and leisure attractions. The leisure attractions include The Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo, which features the largest acrylic viewing panel in the world and a walk-through tunnel. The Olympic-sized Dubai Ice-Rink is another key leisure attraction and a destination for skating enthusiasts.
Fashion Avenue, a 440,000 sq ft fashion precinct dedicated to haute couture, positions the mall as the fashion capital of the region; while the Gold Souk is a sprawling gold and jewellery retail showcase with over 200 stores.
The strong family entertainment theme includes KidZania®, an innovative children’s ‘edu-tainment’ concept that is being introduced to the region for the first time; SEGA Republic, a 76,000 sq ft high adrenaline indoor theme park; The Grove, an indoor-outdoor streetscape with fully retractable roof, and the 22-screen REEL Cinema with a total capacity of 2,800 seats.
For the convenience of visitors, the mall offers over 14,000 car parking spaces.
About Emaar Malls Group LLC:
Emaar Malls Group LLC, is the retail and shopping mall subsidiary of Emaar Properties PJSC. Emaar has announced investments in shopping malls of over US$4 billion (AED 15 billion) with 10 million sq ft of retail property in operation or under development in the emerging markets of the Middle East, North Africa, the Indian Subcontinent and South Asia and is on target to become one of the largest developers of shopping malls in the world. At the forefront of these developments is the flagship The Dubai Mall, the world’s largest mall, in the heart of the Downtown Burj Dubai.
Emaar Malls Group also operates two other malls in Dubai; Souk Al Bahar, an Arabesque shopping and entertainment development on The Old Town Island, and Dubai Marina Mall, a lifestyle shopping mall for residents of the Dubai Marina community.
Internationally, Emaar Malls Group is actively planning or developing shopping centres in Egypt, Syria, Morocco, Turkey, Jordan and Saudi Arabia and continues to drive the company’s expansion strategy on a global scale.
About Emaar Properties PJSC:
Emaar Properties PJSC, listed on the Dubai Financial Market, is a global property developer with a significant presence in 36 markets world-wide. Besides building residential and commercial properties, the company also has proven competencies in shopping malls & retail, hospitality & leisure, education and healthcare. For more information, visit www.emaar.com.
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