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28 March 2024

UAE gets first mall for gadgets

Published
By Waheed Abbas

Nice Home Real Estate on Tuesday announced the launch of UAE’s first shopping mall, fully dedicated to technology products.

Being built at a cost of Dh180 million, the three-storey iMall will house 100 shops, and showrooms will open doors in May 2015, Mounir Lutfy, Director of Nice Home Real Estate, told Emirates 24l7.

Claimed to be the first mall solely focused on tech products and services in the UAE, Nice Home will start leasing from today (March 26, 2014).

Located on the Dubai-Sharjah Road and spread over 60,000 square feet, iMall will serve as a one-stop destination for IT and communication-related products in both retail and wholesale segments.

“This is the first shopping mall of its kind in the UAE. We received a lot of inquiries but didn’t sign a contract with any company; we apologised and insisted that we have to open bookings at the same time for everybody. We’ve been keeping it on hold,” Mounir said.

“We have different sizes of shops. Our smallest shop is around 40 square metres but if companies need more space, we can provide them,” he added.

With its prime location on Dubai-Sharjah highway, iMall will cater to Sharjah and the Northern Emirates' residents looking for latest gadgets. It will also house food court and leisure and entertainment sections as well, Mounir said.

Electronics retailer Emax’s flagship project on Sharjah’s King Faisal Road is the biggest one-stop destination in the UAE.

Mounir said Nice Home Real Estate plans to invest Dh1 billion in mixed-used property projects in Dubai and Sharjah over the next three years.

Prior to building the shopping mall, Nice Home had developed a number of residential projects in Sharjah’s Al Wahda area, King Faisal Street and other areas.

“A lot of projects are coming soon.. We are talking about investing Dh1 billion in seven mixed-used towers over the next three years,” he said, adding that the iMall concept can also be replicated in other emirates and GCC countries in the coming years.

“I think there will be three-four more iMalls in the UAE in the future. The project has been very well received by investors and retailers. We’ll go step-by-step.”