Tourism & Hospitality | Wednesday 20 September, 2017 11:18 am |

While global internet sales are increasing and more people tend to go online for most of their purchases; physical retail is making significant growth in the Middle East. According to the latest PricewaterhouseCoopers report, e-commerce accounts for merely 2% of retail sales in the Middle East.

Saudi Arabia sees new expansions across physical retail. Red Sea Mall, one of the biggest shopping centers in Jeddah City is currently in progress of completing its $53.3m (SAR200m) expansion, which is the largest mall expansion in Saudi Arabia. The mall will be adding, even more, international brands and entertainment facilities, which highlight their obligation to develop and grow the retail industry.

The mall has become a one-stop-shop that provides large numbers of entertainment, F&B, and retail services. The mall’s management is confident in the future of the industry and is investing in the development of the mall, ensuring that it stays the biggest and the best Jeddah has to offer. With the completion of the SAR 200 Million expansion, the mall will be providing a huge new section, space and accommodation for future businesses to prosper.

Aidaros Albar, Executive Board Member of Red Sea Markets Company Ltd, the owning company of Red Sea Mall and Chairman of Shopping Centers Committee Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry said: “We consider the mall’s expansion essential to the Red Sea Markets Co. and to the local community, and we are contributing to the local economy and other industries and sectors by catering to the rising demands for commercial rental space.”

"There is a vast request for commercial rental space at Red Sea Mall. We have seen that across the past years and so far we have a long waiting list of potential tenants, and this list increases on average by 8% annually. Having this in mind, the decision has been taken and the expansion process is already streaming”, added Albar. 

The Red Sea Mall expansion will add around 145,000 square meters of Gross Leasable Area (GLA), including a 4,000 square meter open space that will showcase premier international brands as well as a variety of restaurants. In addition, the expansion includes a new parking structure with 1,400 extra parking spaces for enhanced visitor comfort and convenience.

“It is well noted that Jeddah is expecting to welcome more than 50 thousand visitors daily especially through shopping malls with a projected total of 1.5 million visitors and tourists. This will generate an average of 2 billion SAR in spending in Jeddah. “Last year KSA increased its retail sales by 6.4 percent reaching up to SAR 361.14 billion, according to AT Kearney’s Global Retail Development Index, and total retail space increased by 5.6 percent, totaling up to 2.1 million sq. /m. Accordingly, we are expecting an increase of 3 to 4% at least throughout the year; due to the vast contributions by shopping centers, in addition to the diverse events and entertainment activities.