56 | RETAILME | NOVEMBER 2016
MALLWATCH
A mall that focuses
on the family
“We first thought of
opening a mall in the late
1990s,” he recounts. “We
visualised a mall to cater
to family needs that would
be centrally located and
accessible to neighbouring
areas as well as the King Fahd
Causeway connecting Saudi
Arabia and Bahrain.”
Spread over 452,084
sqft across two levels, The
Bahrain Mall has a retail
mix that caters for middle
income families – somewhere
between high-end and
mass. “Visitors can find
brands of their choice
ranging from apparel to
footwear to cosmetics. There
are adequate options in
kidswear as well, while the
F&B offerings are also quite
B
ahrain got its first
hypermarket in
May 2001, when
The Bahrain Mall opened,
anchored by the Géant
hypermarket. In those days,
the retail landscape mostly
featured traditional souks
and high streets, plus a few
shopping centres, not unlike
the rest of the Middle East.
Seef Mall was, perhaps, the
first organised mall in the
Kingdom.
“Bahrain had not seen
a hypermarket before we
launched Géant, which
continues to be one of
our key anchors,” says
mall manager Abhishek
Shrivastava. “We were one of
the pioneers of the shopping
mall business in the country.”
Its fortress-like red brick façade captures the cultural essence of the country. The Bahrain Mall exudes a unique ethnic
flavour with its desert palms, water features, flaming torches and tent structures of the Centre Court. Situated in the
heart of Bahrain’s retail district at Sanabis in Manama city, it offers world-class shopping options for consumers.
RetailME traces the evolution of the mall since the time it was opened by Fucom International 15 years ago
diverse. However, leisure
and entertainment is a space
that is still evolving,” says
Shrivastava.
Regional tourists
contribute to footfall
The mall attracts a fair
number of tourists, mainly
from Saudi Arabia, who drive
across over the weekends
and on holidays, in addition
to tourists from Kuwait and
Oman.
“When we opened 15
years back, there were
few organised retail
developments in Bahrain so
we faced little competition
and attracted a fairly large
clientele. But three more
shopping malls opened
between 2002 and 2006, City
Centre Bahrain being one of
them. That took away some
traffic from us, although our
footfall from 2002 to 2004 still
averaged a healthy 5.5-6.0
million annually. But things
got bad in 2011, one of the
worst periods in Bahrain’s
history. Our mall took a big
hit, with footfall dipping
significantly as the situation
worsened in the Kingdom.
But then, it wasn’t different
for other shopping malls
in the region as well,” he
continues.
“We have now begun
regaining the earlier
momentum of the 2002-04
era. We currently undertake
joint marketing initiatives
with our anchor tenants

NOVEMBER 2016 | RETAILME | 57
including Géant, REDTAG,
Twenty4 and the only Home
Store in Bahrain. So we
have been seeing a rise in
footfall. Géant still brings in
maximum traffic. On a scale
of 100, Géant would account
for at least 60-65% of our
clientele. The hypermarket
is our biggest pull factor,”
Shrivastava explains.
Offering a
balanced retail mix
The Bahrain Mall has a
strong fashion category
with brands like Promod,
La Senza, Lee Jeans and
Giordano, while the footwear
and accessories category
is also well represented by
brands like Skechers, Hush
Puppies and Accessorize. For
children, there are Adams
and Mothercare.
“Our fragrance and beauty
segments are quite strong,
especially the perfume mix.
That’s because of strong
demand from local Bahrainis
as well as the Saudi visitors
who are fond of fragrances,”
Shrivastava points out.
“We house The Body Shop
and regional concepts like
Mikyajy as well as fragrance
houses like Ajmal Perfumes,
Al Hawaj and Arabian Oud.
We also have several home-
grown fragrance concepts
and kiosks strewn across the
mall that have struck a chord
with our audience.”
Almost 60% of the mall’s
original retailers have
remained since the last 15
years, even though the mall
continuously sources new
and innovative concepts.
The Bahrain Mall houses
brands from some of the
major regional retail players
including Apparel Group,
AZADEA Group, Lals Group,
Majid Al Futtaim, Jawad
Business Group and many
more.
“Our F&B offerings have
changed quite a bit. The food
court was initially limited to
some international chains
and a few restaurants that
offered Arabic food. It had
a minimalist look and feel –
some wrought iron tables and
chairs strewn across a central
area. We realised that F&B
could be another strong pull
factor like the hypermarket
so we decided to upgrade our
food court. We added several
new options, ranging from
Italian to Indian and from
cafés to ice-cream parlours,”
he says.
The Bahrain Mall has
a wide selection of F&B
offerings ranging from fast
food joints like KFC and
Burger King to Papa John’s
Jasmis, Yum Yum Tree and
Abhishek Shrivastava
3
factors that
make a regional
mall a success
■ Easy access to a shopping
mall is crucial. The
parking lot must also be
conveniently located.
■ Customer service is crucial.
When visitors come to
the mall, the environment
must be welcoming from
the parking to the main
entrance and the rest of
the mall.
■ Personal hygiene is high
priority for the people.
So the washrooms in a
shopping mall must be
clean and well maintained.
Category (tenants) Area percentage
Antiques/Handicrafts/Gifts 0.27%
Beauty Products / Cosmetics 0.42%
Bookshop 0.03%
Electronics 0.15%
Eye ware 0.27%
Fashion (apparel+ accessories) 22.85%
Fitness 0.49%
Food Outlet (food-court+ restaurants) 9.03%
Furnishing & Home Décor 20.55%
Health Care & Nutrition 1.35%
Hypermarket 38.04%
Jewellery 0.56%
Leisure / Entertainment 0.97%
Pets/Pet Supplies 0.37%
Scents & Perfumes 1.61%
Services + Financial Inst. 3.04%
Grand Total 100.00%
Mumbai Spices. Adding
an Indian restaurant to
the food court was a huge
differentiating factor because
other malls lack this option,
feels Shrivastava. There is
also a good balance of local
Arabic food with concepts
like Al Abraaj and Aljazeera
Roastery. Among the café
chains are Starbucks and
Costa Coffee, with Baskin
& Robbins in the ice-cream
space.
“Currently, we have a
restaurant called Med
Café with outside seating
arrangement that’s quite
popular in Bahrain. We plan
to add another restaurant
with outside seating in the
near future,” Shrivastava
adds.
The leisure
mix is evolving
Leisure and entertainment
is a crucial segment for a
family-oriented mall. But
it accounts for only a small
percentage of the overall
space. Nevertheless, the
mall offers a fair share
of amusement options,
including a soft play area and
video gaming arcades for
young adults.
“Today, technology-driven
entertainment like virtual
reality is a big thing so we

58 | RETAILME | NOVEMBER 2016
MALLWATCH
would like to add more
excitement by introducing
innovative futuristic concepts
to our existing amusement
offerings in the days to come,”
says Shrivastava.
“Our central location,
with ample parking space,
allows us to organise some
exciting events every year.
The Bahrain Bike Week is one
such event that draws at least
4,500 people from across the
Middle East. This year the
event will take place next
month,” Shrivastava shares.
“In the days to come we
will bring in new brands to
the mall, including some
unique, one-of-their-kind
leisure concepts,” he adds.
One category the mall
lacks is a cinema. “The
architecture of our mall – a
heritage fort-like structure
with a big canopy on top –
leaves no scope for upward
expansion. True, a cinema
would attract more footfall
but it wouldn’t make a
significant difference because
there are three-four cinemas
in the vicinity – some with
15 screens. Even these don’t
cross 80-90% occupancy over
weekends, leave aside week
days. However, if we feel a
strong demand for cinemas
in future, we will definitely
consider the option,” he
explains.
Adding the services
component
The Bahrain Mall now
offers a bouquet of service
options ranging from money
exchanges to banks to
telecom outlets on the ground
floor. They include Citi Bank,
Bahrain Financing Company,
Viva, Nonoo Exchange,
Nasser Pharmacy as well as a
post office.
“Earlier, we had a huge mix
of retailers on the ground
floor, including an art and
craft store, sweet shops and
food kiosks. But we didn’t
have a services component,
which is essential for a family-
oriented mall. People like to
do their grocery shopping,
their bank-related work as
well as pay their telephone
bills all in a single visit under
one roof. That’s why we added
several service-oriented
outlets on the ground floor of
our mall,” Shrivastava states.
Parking is a crucial
aspect in any shopping
mall today. The Bahrain
Mall offers enough space to
accommodate 1,600-plus
cars, with four entrances to
the parking area in addition
to a simple and easily
accessible layout with wide
walkways and a very relaxed
atmosphere for all family
members. ■
Almost 60% of the mall’s original
retailers have remained since the last 15
years, even though the mall continuously
sources new and innovative concepts.