GETTING TO THE CORE
Dubai appears more eager than ever to see the region’s first Apple store open its doors but where will it be located?
EVER SINCE APPLE CEO Tim Cook visited Dubai in February 2014, the emirate has been abuzz with speculation about when the region’s first Apple store will be opening.
The latest phase of these rumours hit headlines last month when UAE daily Khaleej Times quoted sources as saying that the store, currently under construction, will be located in Mall of the Emirates’ new Fashion District.
It was reported that the outlet would be the largest Apple store in the world at around 50,000 square feet, beating the previous record held by the 40,000 sq ft store in London’s Covent Garden.
The daily also announced a rather questionable opening date of August 2015, adding that Abu Dhabi’s Yas Mall would likely be the location of Apple’s second UAE store.
As much allure as the Apple brand has with fans worldwide, an August 2015 opening struck many with experience of the local climate in the summer months as odd.
Typically, locals and expats in the region holiday in Europe and elsewhere during this period due to the overwhelming outside temperatures in the GCC.
This impacts both hotel occupancy and retailer margins with some restaurants, shops and bars even choosing to close down until temperatures cool down and the tourist market returns.
In response to these rumours, Apple has been silent as always, clearly enjoying the local publicity before it even launches officially in the region.
In response to a request for comment, the company gave its standard statement to Gulf Business.
“The United Arab Emirates is an important country for Apple. We launched the Apple Online Store UAE in 2011 and it’s one of our fastest growing markets around the world.
“We look forward to opening a physical store in the region and sharing Apple’s unique shopping experience and services, that have been incredibly popular around the world, in the near future.”
For many retailers, when it comes to opening a store in Dubai, the numbers, along with the successful malls on offer, speak for themselves.
A recent report by real estate consultancy CBRE ranked Dubai as the second most important international shopping destination globally for the fourth consecutive year. Around 55.7 per cent of retailers in Dubai were international brands, while the city attracted 45 new global brands last year alone, the firm found.
Last year Dubai FDI also forecast that the UAE’s retail sector would grow by around 32.9 per cent from 2012 to 2015, rising from Dhs114bn to Dhs151bn.
But in the case of Apple, the same is equally true. A store can boost sales in a mall by up to 10 per cent, Green Street Advisors told the Wall Street Journal in a March report. Meanwhile an Apple spokesperson told the publication that the company’s stores lure in about one million shoppers per day globally.
These numbers allow the company to negotiate rents of as little as 2 per cent of sales per square foot compared to up to 15 per cent for some smaller brands, it is said. Surely going some way to explaining why mall owners in the region would be keen to host Apple’s first expansion in the region.
So will it be Mall of the Emirates or will it be Dubai Mall? The former has been ranked in the top 10 malls globally in terms of gross annual sales for several years now. The latter is the world’s largest mall with the world’s tallest building on its doorstep.
Clearly a tough choice, although many would argue Dubai Mall is a more fitting location for the world’s largest Apple store – and there are indications the company has reached a similar conclusion.
A source at a popular Japanese restaurant on level 1 of Dubai Mall’s Fashion Avenue told this publication that the eatery, along with several other brands next to it and below it, have been forced to relocate in the coming weeks.
All to make way for a large new tenant that clearly has some sway with mallowner Emaar.