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Satyendra Pathak
Doha
Lulu Hypermarket’s recently opened store as part of the Abu Sidra Mall is receiving overwhelming response from both Qatari nationals and residents, the hypermarket’s top official in Qatar has said.
Talking to Qatar Tribune on the sidelines of an event at the Abu Sidra Mall, Lulu Group International Director Mohamed Althaf said, “Purposefully, we opened the mall before everything thing was ready. We opened under very difficult circumstances. The country was still recovering from COVID-19. Road work outside the mall is not completed yet. Major infrastructure revamps in this area is going on. Despite all this, the response we got f rom the local community is tremendous.”
As Lulu never had a major presence in this part of Qatar, he said, the local community is very happy with this store in the Mall.
“The residents also like the theme of the mall that is Qatar’s biggest and most comprehensive Zero Waste refill station where shoppers can refill reusable containers with dry goods including pasta, grains and other items. So people love this mall. It is very popular among families, among kids and also people looking for special deals like we have vegan butchery offering plant-based meat alternatives.
“So there is a tremendous response. We are actually overwhelmed by the response we have been receiving at this mall. This store has done exceedingly better than our expectations. Once all the road and infrastructure work are done in the next three months and once the shopping mall is fully functional this is going to be the new hot spot for families living in Qatar,” he said.
“The mall is all prepared and is expected to open fully in January 2022. This mall is actually focusing on health, wellness and fitness. People will find a lot of things that are connected with wellness, therapies and yoga. There will be one or two gyms, entertainment section and then we will have regular family fashion brands that we associate with,” he said.
Almost 50 percent of the shopping mall including the Lulu Hypermarket store is fully functional now. The other side of the shopping mall is expected to be fully functional as the majority of the space is already leased out.
According to Harun Kadri, leasing and mall manager at Abu Sidra Mall, the mall is almost 75 percent leased with premium brands.
“The mall is going to be the neighbourhood and community mall. Since its opening one and a half months ago, we have been receiving overwhelming responses from the people. Almost 10,000 people visit this mall on weekends and during weekdays; we are touching almost 8,000 people per day. For any new hypermarket, this is an amazing number,” Kadri said.
The new store, that offers a vast retail area of 24000 sqm, has strengthened Lulu’s presence in the region and is set to transform the retail shopping experience.
The new hypermarket is spread over two levels and its innovations include Smart technology utilized to make the shopping experience smoother – from self-check outs to a new system to ensure no line exceeds three shoppers at any one time.
Providing an update on the expansion plans in Qatar, Althaf said, “We have at least three stores ready to open in the near future. Our next outlet at the Salwa Road is all set to open on December 1. After this, one more store might open by the end of this year.”
“We are expected to open our store at The Pearl Qatar in 2022. Our outlet at the Gewan Island will be in a small store format. We will start constriction once the land is handed over to us. We will have one more outlet at one of the Doha metro stations. Currently, we have a store at the DECC metro station, we will have an outlet near Qatar Foundation soon,” he said.
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30/11/2021
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