Ramada Spinneys closes down

As the May 15 deadline looms closer, denizens of Al Mankhool’s residential community are bidding a poignant farewell to a neighbourhood landmark that has served Bur Dubai for 20 years.

With Spinneys Ramada pulling down its shutters at midnight on Sunday, ‎the popular supermarket chain is currently offering a 15 per cent discount on the total bill to its shoppers as its final swansong.

Anjoli Banerjee who lives in the neighbouring Badri building said she was disappointed the community was losing out on its "regular haunt".

"I've been coming here since I was a little child and all through my teen years, when a sneaky meeting place for friends for a late night outing was a trip to the neighbourhood Spinneys," she recalled. "Now, I'm a mother myself who comes here with her child in the pram.

"We have literally come full circle here. So, yes, it does feel like a part of the community is being taken away."

Rakesh Pathak was of similar sentiment, saying the store's community board served as a treasure trove of things found and needed, long before the internet boom.

"Back in the day when smartphones were all but a twinkle in the eyes of its creators, our community forum was the message board at the supermarket," he recalled. "From bedspace to bedspreads, to sporting equipment and swimming coaching, everything was found here.

"It somehow brought the community together, at this one meeting point."

Even though a second outlet of the popular supermarket is a short distance away, on Trade Centre Road, neighbours say "a walk to the local supermarket" is simply not possible, carting heavy bags in the summer heat.

Says Kristina Lev, a resident of Silver Sands: "Market Mondays were the days we would stock up on the weekly grocery list. But we will just have to find an alternative in the area. Unless they allow us to roll away our bags in its shopping cart across streets and signals."

Asad Khan adds: "The one thing most neighbouring building will miss is the shopping cart. I reckon every building in the area has one abandoned in its parking lot after the weekly grocery run.

"Well, all old chapters must close some day."

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