F&B drives Lulu’s push in northern emirates

The Lulu Group has hit the sweet spot in its push into the northern emirates, with its mall project in Umm Al Quwain 80 per cent leased and the one in Sharjah focusing extensively on its F&B offerings.

“No longer can malls depend on the shopping offers or a family entertainment centre to keep drawing the traffic,” said Marcello Larizza, general manager at Line Investments, which handles all of Lulu’s mall and shopping centre operations, including those in India. “At the Sharjah mall, we will have an entire ‘food street’ dedicated to F&B options on one floor, between the multiplex and the family centre. There will be 18 fast-food and four casual dining outlets on the street. (Line currently has 10 ongoing projects in various stages.)

“Across the mall, we are looking at F&B taking up 20-25 per cent of the space. That compares with the 5-7 per cent a typical mall would have had for F&B five years ago.”

Sharjah project

The Sharjah project, located near the cricket stadium, will have 43,000 square metres of leasable area. It has got a “couple of years to go” for completion.

Across the UAE, mall developers are revising time-tested formulae to suit the needs of the moment.

The National Investment Corporation on Monday announced details of a Dh3 billion project to “expand and upgrade Marina Mall” on Abu Dhabi’s Corniche.

Apart from a new waterfront promenade, the expansion will also have room for a “restaurant tower”.

According to Larizza, it’s no longer enough to keep spreading the same brands across multiple malls.

“Each new mall has to come out with a certain degree of exclusivity. That’s something we are aiming for with our three mega projects — in Dubai Silicon Oasis, Sharjah and Umm Al Quwain.

“The Umm Al Quwain project is the first mega mall in the emirate ... and that explains why we have leased 80 per cent already. And it’s due for opening by the second quarter of 2018.