Work is nearing completion on the Mall of Qatar, the country's largest shopping and lifestyle destination coming up on over 5.4 million sq area, and is due to open on October 29.

Situated next to the award winning Al Rayyan Fifa 2022 stadium, Mall of Qatar will be offering visitors 500 outlets including over 100 food and beverage outlets as well as a five-star luxury hotel, part of Curio, a Collection by Hilton.

The mall’s 19-screen cineplex will include the largest Imax Laser 3D projection system in the world, 7 VIP screens on 3 levels, a 8 lane bowling alley and in-theatre gourmet food service. Within the 16,500 sq m Family Entertainment Complex, Kidzmondo and Xtremeland will provide multilevel entertainment for all.

A premier shopping destination in Doha, Mall of Qatar, organised a welcome aboard event for all major anchor retailers and future tenants ahead of the official launch.

Besides setting a new standard in both mall design and entertainment, this milestone event showcased the mall at an advanced stage of completion with a site tour that detailed the readiness to the retailers.

In fact, it marked the beginning of the countdown with over 100 retailers already shop fitting, with over 200 more expected to start fit out in the coming few weeks.

Welcoming the gathering, CEO Ahmed Al Mulla discussed about the uniqueness of the mall that is all set to transform the consumer experience.

"The nation’s mall will be a jewel in Qatar’s National Vision 2030, a super-regional mall that will be placed on the world tourism map. The mall's management is committed to this vision and to build and maintain strong leadership in order to meet our partners and customers’ expectations," he added.

Standing on stage, Naomi Sargeant, the marketing director, said: "Today marks the beginning of our journey to share with you the vision, mission, brand story, and messages we have created that will be our promise to deliver to the consumers’ needs and hopes."

"This is just the beginning of our journey… hereafter, we will endeavour to ensure that we keep raising the bar and bring you the trendiest, most enjoyable and exhilarating experiences in Qatar, here at the mall," she stated.

Rony Mourani, the general manager, said: "We are gathered here because we all have one thing in common: an absolute mission to build together a great new retail and leisure destination in Qatar. Without you, the retailers, we stand alone in a building."

"Our job now is to bring these walls to life, to create a great experience that our customers will tell each other about. Consumers will not connect with us unless we can fulfill that promise and give them what they need and aspire for," he stated.

Managing director Shem Krey said the business of being a mall operator was about bringing the retailer and the consumer together.

"Our vision is to become a landmark within Qatar and the region… to become a destination and an attraction that draws visitors over and over again," he added.

“We promised to deliver more than just a mall to our retailers, and to date we have achieved this, now we hand over the mall to our partners and open our doors to join them to our journey, to speed up the fit out stage, and to ensure our opening date of October 29th is achieved together,” he added.

Mall of Qatar featured several entertainment shows thus transporting the guests into another dimension, as the retaail destination depicted a new level of completion.

They were drawn to six different freestanding doors which were a direct referral to each coloured jewel found in the Mall of Qatar logo, lit throughout the room, each accompanied by individual actors themed as the ambassadors of the mall-styled and characterised to a new level of fashion, marrying local touches with international flair.

For ‘The Opening Act’, guests were treated to a new ecosystem of entertainment and experiences in an atmosphere that utilised the dynamics of acrobatics - dance - and vocalists.

The finale, ‘Pulse’ a sneak peak of one of the Mall of Qatar Live shows with the sound of drum beats, rhythm, acrobatic duo straps, dance and incredible vocal pieces, left the guests with a sense of awe and excitement.

Later in the evening, Al Mulla, Krey, Mourani along with Moutaz Al Khayyat, the chairman of the board and president of UCC Holding, and Ramez Al Khayyat, the chief executive and group vice president of UCC Holding, presented the ‘Welcome Aboard’ trophies to all brand operators.-TradeArabia News Service