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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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