Dubai Shopping Festival : Shopping galore

The combined edition of the Dubai Shopping Festival 2006-2007, which began on December 20, 2006 and concluded on February 2, 2007 offered a wide range of family-fun, entertainment and shopping extravaganza to the visitors. Today, the top retailers in the emirate are elated about the DSF turnout and shooting up of sales figures in the concluding week.

Undoubtedly, the shopping fiesta ensured that buyers spent this time of the year shopping to the hilt with loads of incentives pouring in from the retailers’ end. The smile on the shopper’s face had its own reasons, one of them being the discounts, sales and special promotions running throughout the city. Making most of the shopping opportunities during the DSF, especially in the last week of the annual shopping extravaganza, shoppers took maximum advantage of the offers.

Owing to the long duration of the festival, the record of sales and revenues broke the previous one and retailers, indeed, had an occasion to celebrate. While the shoppers were benefited most by the discounts and offers, the retailers had their cash registers ringing constantly, signaling, thus, growth and prosperity in the business.

Deepak Srivastava, Concept Head and General Manager of Emax, pointed out, “Since the shopping festival is tourist-driven, it usually has high sales throughout its duration. However, this year, the closing of the event coincided with the beginning of the month, we, therefore, expected resident consumers to open up their purse strings towards the end of the closing period.”
General Manager of The Baby Shop, Clive Freeman, seconded this opinion and said that the DSF was a very good time of the year for business. He added, “The DSF had a very good impact, especially during the Eid and winter break. But, I do feel that the ideal time to hold the DSF would be in the month of January as, during Eid and Christmas, we generally have good footfall and the sales are also normally good. If DSF were conducted after these auspicious days, then, with all shops promoting sale, we would be able to generate more sales, and footfall would also increase during this slow month.”
Various outlets throughout the emirate offered heavy discounts and excellent promotion for the buyers resulting in an increased footfall. There was a marked

increase in sales in Dubai with knock-on effects. While loyal customers enjoyed shopping at the stores, the management also saw new faces every day resulting in more exposure for the chain and, of course, better business.
Dubai’s plush shopping malls that participated in the DSF with gusto and contributed ,in a major way, to making it a grand celebration too recorded footfalls like never before. The visitor turnout at the shopping malls reached new heights during the holidays when Dubai experienced an influx of visitors from abroad. The trend went on throughout the month of January as ‘entertainment shows and shopping with rewards’ continued to attract visitors in large numbers.

Global village: a tribute to modernity
The brand new canopy at the entrance of the Global Village, a member of Tatweer, designed like a dragon, drapes itself with élan and dwells above impressively massive columns. The elegant engineering marvel presents a pretty picture offering a warm greeting to visitors at the Global Village. The visitors who walk past this scintillating structure

of various pavilions behind and the fun fair area to its left.

cannot but stop for a moment to take in its sheer classic style, set against the backdrop

The Mall of the Emirates, a DSF key sponsor, was recently home to the enchanting South American musicians. As part of the DSF celebrations, an Argentinian Bolas performer and Mexican Mariachi musicians enthralled the crowd with their enrapturing beats that had the shopper-spectator asking for more.

Al Ghurair City, one of the popular malls in town, had a double celebration this DSF as it celebrated its 25th anniversary. With doubled  DSF benefits and bonanza, visitors enjoyed a rewarding shopping experience with the mall’s ‘Up for Grabs’ special promotion. Every shopper had the chance of winning 2 BMW 7 series and also 1,50,000 dirhams worth of Scratch-and-Win prizes. Moreover, a pleasant surprise awaited DSF shoppers on January 25 with a free gold coin bearing the ‘Al Ghurair City 25 Years insignia’.