Festival Plaza, the community mall part of Al Futtaim Malls’ development, has introduced ‘ready to lease’ opportunities to help both homegrown and international businesses expand their footprint with the support of one of Dubai’s most established malls.
Check-in and trade’ services will allow businesses and entrepreneurs to open a store within weeks.
General manager of Al Futtaim Malls in the UAE, Hayssam Hajjar, said: “Over the past few years we have seen exponential growth in online retail shopping and sales. However, this has not hindered the traditional shopping experience, with consumers looking to spend time enjoying simple pleasures that they did not have access to for a long period of time.”
Festival Plaza’s ‘ready to lease’ units are commercial spaces that will give prospective businesses the flexibility of adding final finishing touches and furnishings to a white box space without the burden of the cost of large overheads.
Thanks to this new scheme, brands looking for retail space without the need for extensive upfront capital will be able to take over one of Festival Plaza’s available units without any overheads or setup costs, offering them the unique opportunity to start trading in a matter of weeks.
“In tandem, we understand that economically, it is not the easiest time to set up a retail business and watch it thrive without expensive overheads and requiring immense capital. We felt it was our duty as a community mall to give back to the budding community of SMEs and entrepreneurs, being part of their journey to expand their successful brands, no matter the size or years in business. Just as we do with our customers, we look to offer businesses and brands unique and diverse opportunities and offerings,” said Mr Hajjar.
Selected units will be available for check-in and trade during H1 2023 at Festival Plaza, Jebel Ali.
According to the ‘C-Commerce Mena Report 2022′ by UAE-based personalised commerce platform Zbooni, 56 per cent of Middle Eastern shoppers still prefer brick-and-mortar shopping, reaffirming that physical retail presence remains a highly valued commodity for both businesses and customers to connect and engage.
