The Dubai Mall is located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. This structure is the world’s largest shopping mall by square foot and the 6th largest by the gross leasable area. It is is part of the $20 billion Downtown Dubai complex which includes 1,200 shops. The mall can be accessed via Doha Street. After construction was delayed twice, Dubai mall was opened on November 4th, 2008, with around 635 retailers; this made it the world’s largest mall opening in the retail history.
In the first 5 days after its opening, the mall recorded a total of 60,000 ticket sales for the attached Discovery Center and the Dubai Aquarium.
Description
The size of this mall is equivalent to more than fifty football fields, or over 12 million square feet. The internal floor area of the mall is 5.9 million square feet with a leasable space of about 3.75 million square feet. Inside the mall, you will find a 250- room luxury hotel, 22 -cinema screens and 120 restaurants and cafes. With over 14,000 parking spaces, this mall provides ample parking for all the visitors.
Dubai Aquarium
Inside the mall you will find the Dubai Aquarium which earned a Guinness World Record for having the world’s largest acrylic panel. The dimensions are approximately 108 feet wide, 27 feet high and 29.5 inches thick with a weight of 541,486 pounds. The panel can withstand the pressure of about 2,641,720 gallons of water that is used in aquarium. Yet, its transparency gives the visitors a very clear view of more than 33,000 marine animals that are on display.
Dubai Ice Rink
The mall’s ice rink is a multi-purpose venue which uses refrigeration plant technology. The refrigeration process creates a 1.5 inch ice bed, twice the thickness of an NHL ice rink and the skating area is Olympic size. The Dubai Ice Rink can host up to 2,000 visitors.
SEGA Republic
SEGA Republic is a 76,000 square foot indoor theme park and arcade that was opened in August of 2009. Here, visitors can enjoy more than 150 amusement rides and games. Redemption Zone holds one of the region’s largest selections of games and has a huge collection of winnable prizes for all age groups. This park is dedicated to SEGA’s icon – Sonic the Hedgehog. The entrance to SEGA Republic is located on the second floor of the Dubai Mall.
Reel Cinemas
Reel Cinemas was opened in August of 2009 on the 2nd floor of the mall. The Reel Cinema is a 22 screen movie theater with over 2,800 seats. This is known to be the largest cinema is the region. During the opening week, over 10,000 people visited this cineplex. Reel Cinema is operated by Reel Entertainment LLC. From the 22 screens present today, there are 2D and even 3D screens with movies starting every 10 minutes.
Shops
The mall contains over 1,200 shops with the main stores being Debenhams, Galeries Lafayette, Bloomingdale’s, Marks & Spenser and Waitrose. In October of 2009, the world’s largest candy store was opened in Dubai -Mall.
In 2009, Dubai Mall hosted just over 37 million visitors and today, it attracts over 750,000 visitors every week.
In 2011 and 2012 the mall held the title of the world’s most visited shopping and relaxation destination. In 2012 the mall attracted over 65 million visitors; this is actually a big increase of about 20% compared to 54 million visitors recorded in 2011.