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The concept of shopping malls is fairly new in Sharjah,
although several malls have opened during 2001 and early
2002. Many large showrooms as well as small centers are
dotted around the city selling various products.
By 2005,
Sharjah is expected to rank third after Dubai and Doha in
terms of shopping center space per capita at around 13 sq.ft.,
per person - overtaking even Abu Dhabi, according to a study
by a UK based organization.
The
survey said Sharjah shopping centers will be creating a
total of about 355,000 square meters of Gross Leaseable
Area within three years.
Sharjah's
new shopping malls include the 500,000 sq. ft. Dh 400 million
Sahara Center, 400,000 sq. ft. Sharjah Mega Mall and Majid
Al Futtaim's City Center. The survey said however, time
will tell whether Sharjah can sustain occupancy of these
malls without having to attract shoppers from outside the
emirate. The
test will be on whether Sharjah malls can outperform well
entrenched malls in Dubai,' the study said.
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