Qatar Rail offers retailers chance to open stores at 37 stations

Retailers in Qatar, especially small and medium enterprises, will have the chance to open new stores, as well as expand their operations, at the Doha Metro stations and Lusail Tram network.

Qatar Rail announced in an advertisement yesterday that it is offering retail opportunities in its 9,200sqm retail space, spread across its 37 stations, comprising the Red, Gold, and Green Lines.

Retail spaces (permitted trades) comprise services, general retail, food and beverages, convenience, and Automated Teller Machines (ATM) and vending machines.

“Our retail proposition caters to the bespoke demands of rail commuters and neighbourhood customers. In addition to the retail outlets, stations also include dedicated spaces for ATMs and vending machines. “Lusail Tram has 25 stations spread across four lines. The total route length is approximately 19kms. Retail space of approximately 1,500sq m is spread across 43 retail outlets,” Qatar Rail said on its website.

Qatar Rail noted that some of the “unique value proposition” of the Doha Metro and Lusail Tram retail are:

 Business access to rail commuters and neighbourhood customers

 Modular shop format with a diverse retail mix

 Partitioned shell and core retail space with flooring

● Flexible Right to occupy term of three or five years with fixed fee

● Fee inclusive of service and utility charges.

The services trade include banks, money exchange, telecom service, pharmacy travel agent, courier service, health & beauty, laundry, government entity, and quick service repair, among others; while general retail include stationery, electronics, florist, accessories, gift/souvenir shops, book store, sports shop, and nutritional supplement.

For food and beverage, retailers can open cafés, quick service restaurants, speciality foods, and juice bar.

Convenience stores and news agents fall under convenience while ATMs and vending machines are under ancillary.

In 2019, Qatar Rail announced that the Doha Metro’s Gold Line’s 10 stations from Ras Bu Abboud to Al Aziziyah will have 55 retail units and 33 ATM locations while Green Line’s Al Riffa station will have eight retail kiosks and two ATM locations.

Meanwhile, Red Line’s five stations from Katara to Lusail and Hamad International Airport (Terminal 1) will have 19 retail units and 11 ATM locations.

The Doha Metro is contributing significantly in boosting the country’s retail sector as it links various malls and shopping centres such as Mall of Qatar, Villaggio Mall, City Center Doha, and Galeries Lafayette at Katara – the Cultural Village, among others, giving easy access to a large number of shoppers.

As the country started to reopen from the Covid-19 situation, the network is once again giving commuters easy, safe, and cheaper transport services to several tourist destinations such as Souq Waqif, Old Souq Al Wakra (with Metrolink buses), museums such as the National Museum of Qatar, and Katara – the Cultural Village, among others.