Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
Issue link: https://sct.epubxp.com/i/390025
14 S C T / O c t O b e r 2 0 1 4 w o r l d aT a g l a n C e HMV, which turnaround specialist Hilco saved from bankruptcy 18 months ago, will soon surpass Amazon. com in the U.K. for CD and DVD sales, according to Hilco's CEO. The 125-store chain saw same-store sales rise 13.8 percent year on year during the past two months. More details have emerged about the planned Arena Mall, at Dubai Sports City, in the United Arab Emir- ates. The mall will measure some 1.4 million square feet — about the same as Dubai's Mall of the Emirates — and is to contain a 140,000-square- foot hypermarket, a cinema, two food courts and about 300 in-line tenants. Al Futtaim Group has six malls in the works, totaling some $6 billion, including the Dh1.7 billion (about $463 million) renovation of Dubai Festival City Mall. Also under way: the 2.8 million- square-foot Riyadh Diriyah Festival City (the largest mall in Saudi Arabia), the 1 mil- lion-square-foot Muscat Festi- val City, in Oman, and a 1.3 million-square-foot scheme in Casablanca, Morocco. Henderson Land Develop- ment Co. is set to spend some HK$6.5 billion [about $840 million] on a retail project in the upscale Tsim Sha Tsui district of Hong Kong. Henderson beat out 17 other suitors for the 28,300-square-foot site. The shopping center is scheduled for completion in 2019. The ritzy Punta del Este beach resort of Uruguay is getting an equally ritzy mall, with the opening this De- cember of the Oh! La Barra shopping center. This is a project of the Netzaj Group, which comprises Uruguayan and Argentinean investors. The mall's 60 stores will include Roberto Cavalli, Max Mara, Valentino and Versace, and an oceanfront restaurant boulevard is among the features. U.K.-based outlet developer McArthurGlen has plans to build new shopping centers and expand existing proper- ties in Europe over the next three years, in the process adding about 2.7 million square feet of space to its port- folio. The endeavor, which is to cost some €1.5 billion [nearly $2 billion], includes the opening of shopping centers in southern France and in Istanbul, largest city in Turkey, plus project expan- sions in Britain and Italy. While other commer- cial real estate sectors in Bahrain are sluggish, retail happens to be exploding. New developments in the capital of Manama and in other population centers, including Dragon City and The Lagoon, are attracting retailers looking for dense residential areas. Weekend tourists from Saudi Arabia are bolstering traffic too. The growing economy of Indonesia is spurring con- sumer demand, which in turn has retailers pushing shopping center developers to create more space for them. At this time there are 21 retail developments un- der construction there, total- ing some 7.6 million square feet, according to Colliers International. S C T HMV, which turnaround