Mad rush for Dubai Super Sale
POLICE URGE PEOPLE TO USE PUBLIC TRANSPORT AS PARKING LOTS RAN FULL YESTERDAY
Dubai Police yesterday closed parking entrances to Dubai Mall and other major shopping centres as the threeday Super Sale that began on Thursday drew massive crowds that caused congestion.
With discounts of up to 90 per cent, the Super Sale turned out to be a major success, triggering exceptional footfall that resulted in long queues of vehicles leading to the shopping centres as well as those of people inside making a beeline to retail stores.
Apart from Dubai Mall, Mall of the Emirates and City Centre Mirdif also saw heavy footfall and congestion, prompting authorities to close down parking entrances to these malls from 4pm yesterday.
The three-day Dubai Super Sale that began on Thursday with discounts of up to 90 per cent turned out to be a major success, with massive crowds flocking to all major malls in the city.
The exceptional footfall resulted in long queues and traffic snarls around The Dubai Mall, Mall of the Emirates, City Centre Mirdif and other major shopping centres, prompting authorities to temporarily close parking entrances to these malls yesterday.
With just one week to go for Ramadan, the big promotion seems to have been timed to perfection, drawing in large crowds from far and wide, resulting in a bumper sale for many retailers.
Apart from the long queues of vehicles leading up to the malls, serpentine queues could also be seen at the cash counters of major retail stores in the shopping centres.
Restaurants and coffee shops in the malls also drew customers, though they weren’t offering any discounts.
Dubai Police closed the parking entrances to The Dubai Mall, City Centre Mirdif and Mall of the Emirates from 4pm yesterday due to huge congestion in the parking areas.
Speaking to Gulf News, Brigadier Saif Muhair Al Mazroui, director of the Traffic Department in Dubai Police, said the entrances to all major shopping malls were closed due to the rush for the three-day Super Sale.
“We closed the entrances at 4pm because the parking lots in these malls were packed to capacity. The number of people visiting the malls was higher than usual due to the Super Sale,” said Brigadier Al Mazroui.
Dubai Police coordinated with the mall managements in closing the gates and diverting the traffic to alternative parking areas.
“There are alternative parking lots around the malls and our officers are diverting traffic to these areas. The gates will remain closed until the visitors leave the malls,” he added.
He urged shoppers and visitors to use taxis and public transport.
A spokesperson for Majid Al Futtaim Properties, owners of City Centre Mirdif and Mall of the Emirates, also urged shoppers to use public transport to make the shopping experience better.
“All of Majid Al Futtaim’s malls in Dubai are welcoming shoppers enjoying the threeday Super Sale. Due to high traffic volumes and parking congestion, we recommend using public transport where feasible,” said the spokesperson.
According to shoppers, Mall of the Emirates has been the scene of serpentine queues at cash counters and that of cars in the parking lots since morning. Several shoppers said they had to wait for a long time to get parking. Many took public transport while many others parked their cars elsewhere to get into the mall for the super sale.
Yasir Sayed, a banker who lives in Sharjah, said he took his family to Mall of the Emirates yesterday after finding out that the Super Sale is happening only in Dubai.
“The parking was almost full on all floors and we had to go to the topmost floor and wait there. We were lucky that we got in before the police closed the entrance. We were actually planning to wait for another 15 minutes, as we saw one man take out his car. But luckily another guy finished his shopping and took out his car first.”
Ramesh D., who works with a construction company, said he and his friends parked their car at a construction site near the mall.
“We did not come because of the sale. We just came to chill out and also buy a mobile for my friend. But we did not even try to park here because we saw the rush outside the mall,” he said.
Praseetha Rajesh, a pharmaceutical product manager, said her family parked the car at LuLu Hypermarket, where they had lunch and walked across to Mall of the Emirates.
“One of my friends who was already at Mall of the Emirates called up and told us about the parking chaos. It took about half an hour for her to get parking. So she warned us. We couldn’t avoid coming here because my husband had to do some lastminute shopping before he flies to India tonight,” she said.
At The Dubai Mall, the scene was not much different, as congestion in the mall’s massive parking area spilled over to the surrounding roads, forcing police to intervene and close the entrances.
A statement from Emaar was not immediately available.
Talking about his experience, Norle Serviano from the Philippines said: “There was a lot of traffic inside and outside the mall. I took me an hour to find a parking space and before that I had to negotiate traffic for 20 minutes on the road leading to the mall. “I was actually surprised because I came last Friday and it was normal, I wasn’t expecting so many people.”