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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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