At least half a dozen new shopping malls are being built in Jeddah. Will they find businesses wanting to rent their space? There is a serious danger that they could turn out to be ghost malls. The problems of several existing malls are already visible. Rows of closed shops give some parts of the mall the look of a ghost town. Perhaps not surprisingly, explanations offered by shopkeepers and their customers cover a remarkable range of reasons from politics to prices or just plain convenience.
Of the malls that Arab News visited for an informal survey, the Al-Sholla Commercial Center on Madinah Road seems to be the worst hit by shop closures. There are more than 20 empty shops in the mall. The mall management treats the problem quite openly by posting bills on windows giving telephone numbers and the shop’s number in the floor plan, though the fact that the unit is for rent is only implied.
At the Jeddah International Market beside Le Meridien Hotel, also on Madinah Road, closed shops are papered over from the inside or shuttered but without any information being offered. There are fewer closed shops than at Al-Sholla and many of the closures are concentrated in one corner of the mall.
The picture is quite different in the city center malls. Even in the early mornings, these seem to attract large numbers of customers. The Corniche Commercial Center and the Al-Mahmal Center — both downtown — never have that almost deserted look one associates with some suburban shopping centers.
When it comes to explaining the difference between winners and losers, however, the reasons given vary widely. Shopkeepers never give political events as an explanation but many customers cite the Iraq war or terrorism as the major reasons for an economic downturn that has taken shoppers away from some of the malls. Some customers also say that Saudi Arabia’s general economic slowdown over the past decade has affected trade at some of the commercial centers. A Pakistani driver specifically gave the exodus of Western expatriates after the terror attacks as the reason for the slower pace of sales. In addition, he states, “there are simply too many malls.”
In contrast, behind the counters, reasons are more down-to-earth. “We are simply better salesmen and give better service while our colleagues in the suburban malls tend to have a more relaxed attitude,” says the manager of a photo shop in the Al-Mahmal Center.
At the Salah Sayarfi Commercial Center next door, a shop assistant gives lower prices in the city area as the main reason for continuing customer interest. This is a point disputed by some, though. The skeptics include some shopkeepers in the downtown malls.
Even when it comes to explaining tough times, the salespeople tend to stress factors of everyday economics. “Business is slow because it is just after Ramadan,” says a Yemeni in a mobile telephone shop at the Jeddah International Market. He adds that the success of the downtown malls is mainly due to two factors. They are situated in the city center and that is where many Asian expatriates congregate. They tend to shop in places like the Corniche Commercial Center where the range of goods on offer generally is plainer and cheaper than at many of the suburban complexes with their rows of brand-name shops.
Most customers interviewed also stressed the importance of location, which is the factor most consistently mentioned when it comes to explaining the varying fortunes of Jeddah’s shopping malls. Downtown is where many work and so it is more convenient for them to do their shopping there than to drive through heavy traffic to commercial complexes in distant suburbs. Besides, many say, the city center — Al-Balad — is where many people go for a variety of business, with shopping being only one of them.
Still, there may be limits to the attractions of downtown Jeddah. An alternative explanation is offered by an executive taking a break in a coffee shop at the huge Jamjoom Center in Palestine Street. The Jeddah Today yearbook describes the Jamjoom Center as the largest commercial complex in the world, but on weekdays at least, it seems rather cavernous, with customers few and far between.
The young executive, a Palestinian born in Saudi Arabia, who works in an office down the road, has this to say about the struggle between the malls downtown and those outside: “Most people do their everyday shopping downtown and then they come here on the weekends. Friday is very busy here.”
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(Lars Moller-Rasmussen is a journalist with Danmarks Radio. He is currently visiting the Kingdom.)
