Oman is gettin really active. Anyone have any info about malls coming around in the next few years, and whats gonna be in em?


:D :flag:

Oman is only good at building hypermarkets for the Indians. :rolleyes:

As NaBHaN said, the hypermarket are taking place more than the malls. I believe its all because of what the people want!

carefore isn't full of indians
neither is safeer or sultan maybe lulu though so thats what 25% hmmm

As NaBHaN said, the hypermarket are taking place more than the malls. I believe its all because of what the people want!

Exactly. People in Oman don't have much money, their salaries are low compared to the other gulf countries, plus unemployment is high; if they build more malls who will shop there?

if they build more malls who will shop there?


Some people use it to shop for girls.


About malls I think what we have now is enough compared to the population.

Kuwait have a smaller population and they have lots of malls

people go to malls look at city center and all but we need more variety i guess we don't have an arcade for crying out loud

What is the point of having many and few people will visit them.

Surely some of you must have heard of some projects? :os

maybe Muscati knows

Kuwait have a smaller population and they have lots of malls



Kuwaiti people mashallah are rich and have money to shop. There is a difference.

Kuwaiti people mashallah are rich and have money to shop. There is a difference.
and your telling me all of Oman is poor?

your telling me that the people who live in Muscat are poor?

your telling me the people who go aborad to shop and all can't do it back home?

and what about tourist? correct me if i'm wrong but isn't the majority of Dubai's income from Tourist.

It's like saying mumtaz and all those highly priced resturants should be closed Oman is poor. Al bustan, Hayat should be closed Omanies are poor they can't afford these rates and all

Alot of Omanis simply prefer to shop outside their country because there is a wider variety and more affordable prices. Another thing here , is if you buy a top and walk down the mall , you will see at least another 2 females who have the same one on :D

Oman needs more malls to stop the same people from going to same places all the time.
This friend of mine goes to City Center every weekend because she has nowhere else better to go!

CR, when businesses decide to build a mall or even bring open a shop of forgeign chain, they look at statistics and what are the people able to afford.

I read in Muscati's blog, that JUST 1% of the whole Omani population earn over RO 1000/month. That's peanuts compared to the other gulf countries. What I am saying is that there are very few people in Oman who are middle class and rich. The rich are very rich and few, and the majority don't have much money and unemployment rates are high.

GDP per Capita of Gulf countries:~

UAE:~ purchasing power parity - $25,200 (2004 est.)

Qatar:~ purchasing power parity - $23,200 (2004 est.)

Kuwait:~ purchasing power parity - $21,300 (2004 est.)

Bahrain:~ purchasing power parity - $19,200 (2004 est.)

Oman:~ purchasing power parity - $13,100 (2004 est.)

KSA:~ purchasing power parity - $12,000 (2004 est.)

cia statistics (http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/sa.html)

As you can see from the statistics we are one of the bottom two.

Oman needs more malls to stop the same people from going to same places all the time.
This friend of mine goes to City Center every weekend because she has nowhere else better to go!

Why isn't Bahja full of people then since people are tired of City Centre?

In fact why is Muscat City Centre so tiny, compared to the other City Centre's in the gulf?

Again back to the statistics and what Omani people can afford and are willing to pay.

with 1% thats 20,000 how many of those 1% live in the capital?

and again your forgetting about tourism Oman is trying to attract tourists tourists love shopping gotta give them what they need

with 1% thats 20,000 how many of those 1% live in the capital?

and again your forgetting about tourism Oman is trying to attract tourists tourists love shopping gotta give them what they need

Red, I said RO 1000 and over. That does not make u rich, it makes you middle class. And you know how much middle class citizens care so much for education and putting their kids into private schools, which eats away a lot of their income.

Plus, why have so many foreign chains have pulled out from Oman (e.g. JC Penny)?

In fact for some reason I always see the Marks and Spencers and Toys R Us in Bahja empty.

What does that tell you of how much Omanis can really spend?

Businesses invest into a place when they see that there is demand for their services (e.g. shops), not for teenagers to walk around.

I know Most Omanies can't spend thats why I mentioned the tourism

lets look at Salam for example it's a highly priced shop but it's been runnin for how long now? same goes with KR some shops closed some didn't thats just the way it is i guess

When tourists come, and there is demand for the shops, then businesses will supply it.

Economics Red. :p

yeah la did the topic say we need malls now?

Look guys, they can build a hundred malls in Oman but none of them will have the expensive designer brands that you find in Dubai, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, etc. There aren't enough people with that kind of income to justify a company like Luis Vuitton or Christian Dior to open a boutique in Oman. The only way that can happen is if there are lots and lots of upper class tourists coming to Oman.

I do not know of any plans to open new malls in Oman. Earlier this year the Golden Group of companies, the people who own Golden Intl Furniture and the Safeer apartment hotel, announced that they plan to build a mall and hotel complex in Al Khuwair. I don't know whether to believe that because this company has a history of announcing large projects that never materialize.

The main thing that's happening is that City Center is going to expand. This is 100% guaranteed. What's still not known is whether they are expanding the current City Center in Seeb or building another one. I think they're going to double the size of the current mall, but I have a friend who says that he's heard they're building a totally new second City Center. We'll know soon enough when they officially announce it.

Yay!!! CityCentre is expanding!!! :hbd: :hbd: :hbd: Finally!!! :hyper:

well ofcourse we do need more malls... having 2 malls is just not enough... and plz dont tell me sabco, 3raimy, khamis plaza or 7arthy are malls..... the only two malls considered to be "real malls" are City Centre and Bahja.....

whenever i go to Dubai... i just feel angry.. coz in Oman we dont have as much malls as they do.. and alot of people like shopping..

How about lulu, their prices are good and espacially sweets and cake :hyper:

lulu is a hyper market

why arn't the rest malls falling?

Look guys, they can build a hundred malls in Oman but none of them will have the expensive designer brands that you find in Dubai, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, etc. There aren't enough people with that kind of income to justify a company like Luis Vuitton or Christian Dior to open a boutique in Oman. The only way that can happen is if there are lots and lots of upper class tourists coming to Oman.

Forget the expensive brand stores, we just want a bigger selection. Take clothes for example, when a woman wants to go shopping for ready-made clothes she's limited to a few stores in Qurum and CityCenter!

I'm not one for those high class brands and I wouldn't spend that much money on clothes, bags or makeup but it would be really nice just to have more medium priced stores around here.


When Bahja was announced we all thought we'd have another great mall to shop in, but the three stores there (except for Marks & Spencer) are cheap and have no quality.
--

CityCenter have been saying they'll expand since they opened. And that Carrefour sign has been by Qurum roundabout for almost a year but we still haven't seen anything actually being started.

Oman's so slow :(

binyat dhofar has lots of choices :p

They sell material there CR. If they do sell ready-made clothes I am sure they aren't of good quality.

hehe well i was just making a joke :p

Well, I heard theyre building a new mall in Shatti, near the intercon (on that intersection, if u take a left u get to the intercon, the mall is being built on teh right, right now its a construction site), which is gonna be fairly up-town (as in coffee places, restaurants, shopping...i dunno teh scale). Its a good location, so hopefully it's the start of a trend. Seems quite big too, looking at the illustration.

Quite interesting topic...
I agree with Muscati's reply the most :)

I seriously can't comprehend the fact that you guys are asking for miracles to happen? Because the chances of "Luis Vuitton or Christian Dior to open a boutique in Oman" are very very slim. Why? Due to the demand.. I havn't done eco in my life and I know this :p

CR... why are you so stubborn? Get it through man, Oman as a gulf country isn't all that wealthy. And whats 20,000 people...? Try to get a real idea of the portion of those people that are actually willing to "spend" money.
I know Most Omanies can't spend thats why I mentioned the tourism
I'm sure thats the last thing Omani tourism is concerned with ;)

I agree with most people arguing about the inavailability of a range or variety of shops/boutiques.

Well, I heard theyre building a new mall in Shatti, near the intercon (on that intersection, if u take a left u get to the intercon, the mall is being built on teh right, right now its a construction site), which is gonna be fairly up-town (as in coffee places, restaurants, shopping...i dunno teh scale). Its a good location, so hopefully it's the start of a trend. Seems quite big too, looking at the illustration.

Dude, sorry that's not a mall. That's Shining Shatti, an apartment complex with 205 apartments which are all sold (not for rent). It will be ready in phases from 2006 to 2007. One bedroom apartments in it were sold for 25,000 rials and three bedroom ones went for 60,000.

Cred: Most of the malls i mentioned dont have good shops...even if they have some, i dont think they'r quality is good not like the shops in city center which r more known

true but still malls la :p

back Qzar days and late 90's those places were packed

i'v got 2 questions to ask here does any1 knows wt happened to Carrefour that were goin to be built in Qurom, i heard that they'll stop
2nd question is about lulu hyper mkt, is it true that its `3seel amwal?!

The Carrefour in Qurum is on hold. The official story is that MAF Group decided to delay the project and spend their money on expanding City Center. However this being Oman we love gossip. Hence, Omanis say that the project was stopped by the police because they don't want a hypermarket right under one of their headquarters. Believe that if you want. Last year the rumour was that Muscat Municipality refused to give them a permit because they are afraid of the traffic it will cause at the roundabout. I asked a friend at the municipality and his reply was "baladiya didn't stop a hypermarket from building a hypermarket right next to it in Darseit and that traffic will harm us more than anyone, why would we block one in Qurum?!"

As for the Lulu rumour, well it's been circulated since forever that the EMKE group, the company that owns the Lulu chain, is just a front for Indian gangsters and corrupt politicians to launder their money. Dunno if that's true.

wow Muscati u got all da news dude...wt els u no lol...so i go to dad to show off lol:)

About Shining Shatti, I've heard differently, but we'll see in time I guess :)


Im glad the Carrefour in Qurum is on hold, hopefully it wont go through. It WILL cause ridiculous traffic in the area.

LULU is lo3an

cc is the only one good mall in oman! and its not enough!!
look at all of the gulf malls ...all of them r better then omani malls
our malls r sucks!

well bout the carfore wern't they going to build a bridge just like the one in shatti to khwair?

if thats true bout lulu then they should close it i guess

bahja is quite good they have bowling to

lol Cred...Dhofar bulding ha!!

what dhofar building??

Omanis say that the project was stopped by the police because they don't want a hypermarket right under one of their headquarters.

actually the story I heared that the police stopped them until they manage to find a way to ease the traffic in that area. Which like PT said is a valid case, I mean right now and that road is packed, what about of carrefoure opened there, that road would be unreachable!

Deera City Centre is bigger than MCC+Bahja+all the other malls in Oman an they still have lots of other malls.

About Shining Shatti, I've heard differently, but we'll see in time I guess :)
.

What Muscat said its True its Shining Shatti I personnaly went over there and I asked thus the flat were already SOLD out Under the Carpet which was suppose to be Sold for everyone While on Display for at City Centre they were No Flat really to sell, Because they were already Gone to FAT and BIG Boys... :hyper: :)

Carrefour Qurum is definitely going ahead. The only reason it was delayed is because MAF Group decided to go ahead with an expansion of Muscat City Center which will be announced in early 2006. They've put Carrefour Qurum on the backburner for a while. But if you've passed by there in the past few months I'm sure you'd have noticed a massive mobilization of trucks and bulldozers that have levelled off the land and prepared the site for construction. THe site preparation is now complete and construction can begin whenever they want.

The Carrefour in Qurum is on hold. The official story is that MAF Group decided to delay the project and spend their money on expanding City Center. However this being Oman we love gossip. Hence, Omanis say that the project was stopped by the police because they don't want a hypermarket right under one of their headquarters. Believe that if you want. Last year the rumour was that Muscat Municipality refused to give them a permit because they are afraid of the traffic it will cause at the roundabout. I asked a friend at the municipality and his reply was "baladiya didn't stop a hypermarket from building a hypermarket right next to it in Darseit and that traffic will harm us more than anyone, why would we block one in Qurum?!"

As for the Lulu rumour, well it's been circulated since forever that the EMKE group, the company that owns the Lulu chain, is just a front for Indian gangsters and corrupt politicians to launder their money. Dunno if that's true.

i asked sum1 in the police he told me tht the police stopped them bcoz it will make a traffic jam on tht road, and the only solution is tht they have to pay for fixing the road and making it a 2 lane road if they wanted to continue, although i think it would be a nice place over there: weep: ...less than 5 mins from home :afro: !!!

I am lost for a second, I may question;

Define: "Malls"
Q:What do you want in it?
__________________________:

For Me, I go there to buy a pepsi can and leave! or buy food and leave, or even buy something really important, As for Carrefour All I have seen there is bunch of guys trying to drink as much coffee as possible, I even thought they were philosophers or some scientists trying to solve the middle east problems, shockingly I knew some of them! I think Malls are good, but it can be harmful for small business, and traditional markets, Sooq. bazars. It's nice to have some maybe, but I feel bad for small business owners.


Salam--[x]

i asked sum1 in the police he told me tht the police stopped them bcoz it will make a traffic jam on tht road, and the only solution is tht they have to pay for fixing the road and making it a 2 lane road if they wanted to continue, although i think it would be a nice place over there: weep: ...less than 5 mins from home :afro: !!!

Whoever told you that was talking out of their ***. That road is being changed. It is going to be part of the new Southern Expressway project which will begin at Qurum Roundabout and go all the way till Al Naseem Park. They have already informed the businesses on that side of Qurum including the Oman Oil building and Muscat Private School that they will be working in front of their buildings and cutting into their parking spaces to make a wider road.

there are two things going on in Shatti the "shining shatti" AND a "mall" which is going to have the biggest bowling place in muscat.. eish muscat in oman :p and some clothes shops + coffe shops and stuff so there's something to look forward to!
the mall is the one with the green dome on the top.

there's something going on next to ccc having a "mshroo3 tijari" as a sign.. does anyone know whts tht about??

a mall would be nice :D

Oman is gettin really active. Anyone have any info about malls coming around in the next few years, and whats gonna be in em?


:D :flag:
Well i do know that they are building new malls..and what else could be in 'em besides the usual?? Like..gold stores,cloth stores,abiya stores,who knows what stores..alllll boring! we don't neeeed more malls,we need more activities and separet too..women can't enjoy their lives without men staring like they've never seen women in their lives! :lift:

Y can't they open other shops such as zara I think all the girls in Oman are sick of promod and mango.. So is it tht OMANI PPL would rather go to hypermarts instead of malls? As hypermarts are the only thing increasing

Malls .. who needs them ? ...
I get my chips from Dukan Baboo (Yes, he accepts American Express now) ... Malls are for stupid people ...

anybody heard about the wave project? i heard they are gonna have a mall in it and they'll have alot of famous restaurants which will be located on the seashore :) ..
we do need more malls here!!! its embarrasing tht the only place we go shopping for clothes is city centre.. and u dont really want to shop there since every1 else does and might end up wearing the same as u on the same day! so ur forced to travel all the way to Europe and cum back with extra luggage!!! :shy:

wave project thing as far as i know won't have just one mall btw..

Malls .. who needs them ? ...
I get my chips from Dukan Baboo (Yes, he accepts American Express now) ... Malls are for stupid people ...

ooooohhh...take that back before 50 odd girls jump on your back and make you wish you were never born :p

The Wave will not have a mall. It will have a promenade that includes shops and restaurants, but not a mall. You can see the plan yourself:

Go to: www.thewavemuscat.com and then click on Master Plan. You will see there are no malls in the wave. You gotta remember that the main investor in The Wave is Majid Al Futtaim, and he already owns City Center which is less than 10km away. Why would he want to build a second mall to complete with his own mall?

speaking about those new multimillion tourism resorts .. who needs them ? .. and why let other people invest instead of locals ? ...

Resorts are for stupid people too ...

The Wave isn't a tourism resort. It is a massive housing development that will include 4 resorts, but most of the project consists of residential apartments and houses.

why let other people invest instead of locals ? ...

Because the government was looking for a strategic partner and requested investors to bid for it. Al Futtaim gave what the government thought was the best offer. There were local companies that had bid for the project. Al Futtaim offered something which the government valued more.

Why do you have to be so god damned technical ? :D

If I remember, Al-Futtaim owns 50% and the govt owns 50% (dont quote me on those figures tho), with pensions funds holding 10%. Like Muscati said, theres 4 resors and a massive golf course, but most of it is apartments and villas (the 3rd stage will have some massive luxury villas). Sounds good.

50+50+10 =...

Aren't you studying finance little brother?! lol

By the way, does anyone know what happened with the review of the property laws to allow foreigners to buy houses and land in Oman with proper title instead of the "semi official" version that happens now? There was a separate proposal for a decree allowing foreigners to buy in the new resort developments too.

What happened? Can I buy a house in Oman now? (OK, I can't, I don't have any money...but theoretically?!)

Mimo, there's talk that the decree is coming out this month or at the most next month because Feb 27 The Wave will sell it's first lot of properties. I hear that some of the expats who bought properties on the Muscat Golf and Country Club development are refusing to pay their installments and threatening to sue the developer because even though it's been a year since they committed their investment the decree still hasn't come out and they are still unsure of the status of their property.

If the decree doesn't come out before The Wave starts selling their properties it will be a very bad signal and will not bode well for all these mega projects. Plus don't forget that Dubai International Properties' Yiti project should be officially announced in the first quarter of 2006 as well. The decree is required pronto.

50+50+10 =...


The 10% that is the pension funds is of the 50% govt share :p

Whoever told you that was talking out of their ***. That road is being changed. It is going to be part of the new Southern Expressway project which will begin at Qurum Roundabout and go all the way till Al Naseem Park. They have already informed the businesses on that side of Qurum including the Oman Oil building and Muscat Private School that they will be working in front of their buildings and cutting into their parking spaces to make a wider road.

plz dont talk about him in tht way, coz i bet he knows more than u in these stuff ;) !!

The 10% that is the pension funds is of the 50% govt share :p

Tut tut. You need to express yourself more clearly young man. So is that 10% of the overall total, or 10% of the 50% held by the Government, making it only 5%?
:6:

(like I really give a damn, but this is fun!)

:p
10% of the overall total, making it 20% of the govt share! :D (apparently)

That's the spirit. I hope you didn't have to take your shoes off to work it out :D

Lets just say, TOWELL hate competition, so they wont let anyone make a BETTER Cinema..

Kuwaiti people mashallah are rich and have money to shop. There is a difference.

Not all of them, I tell you. However, I don't want to go any further about this.

Well, you have to be optimistic, Sophis^Catrina, and try to see in different points of view. Although, you don't have many shoppers, that does not necessarily stop having many malls in the country. Besides, OMAN has sufferred an awful lot in the past 30 years, 50s, 60s, till 1975, when everything was almost normal!

I'm actually aware of Omani history, and no need to keep talking about it precisely. Yet, you all omanies know and believe OMAN will be different in Future. There are many malls now, and there will be some in near future, these are as follows:

Carrefour and Sultan Centre (bil qurum)

Its not just about malls, you will have very soon (mahrajan muscat) and (mashroo3 ilmouj) and they're still thinking of building new (kornaish) bil ba6nah.. And also the blue city (il madena ilzarqa' bil sawadi... 15billions!)

lulu, another branch will be available in sahar (It might just have)..

So, there you go.. you'll hit the markets very soon, guys :color:

I dont think it's necessary to build more shopping malls in oman what we have is more than enough what Oman really needs is more variety, no need for expensive boutiques but more affordable and fashionable shops for womens clothing like Promod. I dunno why they dont open Zara or something similar Im sure they are going to be successful, shopping for 3eed in oman is a disaster coz u always see at least 2 other girls wearing the same thing!!

How much does it cose to build a cinema ? ... talking about a very good location, 4 theatres, professional lighting and projection, professional sound equipment, sound proofing and dampening materials, custom seating ... are we speaking above over 20,000 per theater here ? ...

Selling tickets at 2.2, 2.6 with complimentary pop corn ... I can see this place hitting profit in 2 to 3 months ... Any body in with me ?

How much does it cose to build a cinema ? ... talking about a very good location, 4 theatres, professional lighting and projection, professional sound equipment, sound proofing and dampening materials, custom seating ... are we speaking above over 20,000 per theater here ? ...

Selling tickets at 2.2, 2.6 with complimentary pop corn ... I can see this place hitting profit in 2 to 3 months ... Any body in with me ?

Good location: MQ
Pros: 500% Profit
Cons: Towell and Co. own MQ, they wont even lease 1m squared if they know your intentions.

P.S. I hate Shatti Plaza

For a cinema, the projection equipment alone is close to $100,000 per screen. Not bad really. It's the construction and land which are the main costs. Plus you need a place with lots of parking or else you need to build with underground parking which increases the cost a lot. I guess a 4 screen cinema would cost around 2 million rials at the very least all things considered.

You can't give popcorn free because popcorn is where the profit is. Cinemas don't make much money from the movies themselves. The movies are tools to get people to your building. You then make money by selling them overpriced softdrinks and snacks and forcing them to watch 15 or 20 minutes of advertising before the movie. That's where the money is. The movie distributor takes at least 50% of the ticket price and the remaining 50% goes towards paying your overheads, the building's interest and maintenence, electricity, the staff, etc. Popcorn and Coke, that's like pure profit.

projection equipment cost 38,600 rials ? ... I would get anything but Sonys ...

What you basically are saying is that the only thing that's really gonna cost is the location right ? ... Putting that aside having a system actually costs peanuts ...

Put a starbucks in that building, a 31 flavour ice cream company and a little arcade and gaming centre and you can kiss shatti and MQ good bye, Sayonara
, See you later alligator ..

I noticed two posts, and no one answered the "who's with me" part ? .. So who is ?

^^^ sounds great ... im with u.

but we need a nice location.. MQ seems small.. plus the roads are small ..

make it in ghubra :D

Good 1 ti3gib..well Mawali7, Khoudh and Seeb are bcoming a better place, more people go there because of Carrefour so it wont bother them to go a lil bit deeper in that area.