About 6 in 10 UAE residents visit a mall at least once a week

By Cleofe Maceda, Senior Web Reporter  www.gulfnews.com

Dubai:  Nearly two in ten Emiratis go to a shopping mall almost every day, while the majority of UAE residents spend between Dh100 and Dh500 per trip, according to a new study.

In a survey among 1,000 residents in the UAE, research company YouGov found that  about six in ten people in the country pop into a shopping centre at least once a week,  to either buy clothes and other merchandise,  eat or have coffee at a restaurant and spend time with family and friends.

The most avid mall-goers appear to be the Emiratis, with 20 per cent of them saying they visit a mall more than five times a week and 21 per cent saying they check out more than five different places each month.

The UAE is a growing shoppers’ paradise, where malls have mushroomed in recent years and developers invested millions of dirhams in retail expansion projects. As of the end of 2013, Dubai’s mall supply reached 2.5 million square meters of gross leasable area, according to Colliers International. However, more shopping space has been added since then. More info