Qatar Academy Doha (Primary School

both stand alone and in malls. 51 East is the flagship store of Lagoona Mall. 51east.com Then came the malls It wasn’t until 1978 that Qatar saw the opening of the first shopping centre, The Centre. It’s owned by one of Qatar’s largest business houses, Ghanem Al Thani Holdings, under the leadership of Sheikh Ghanem bin Ali Al Thani. The Centre’s inauguration was a major event, attended by the former emir, The Father Emir, HH Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani. This year, The Centre celebrated its 44th anniversary. Remaining almost unchanged and one of Qatar’s prominent landmarks, The Centre today spreads across a sales floor of over 12,000 sq m with parking for more than 300 cars. For several years, residents of Qatar would shop at either souqs or The Centre. In 1997, Equinox –the commercial real estate developer behind the upcoming North Gate Mall – developed the first modern retail development or shopping mall to open in Qatar. Located on D Ring Road, The Mall featured much of what is there today – Highland, Hallmark Cinema Land, Opera Café and more. It’s been recently slightly expanded with new restaurants and stores. The Mall is a fully owned subsidiary of Abraj Real Estate Development Holding Co. themalldoha.com Before the early 2000s, residents of Qatar could not obtain many top international brands locally, which led to people travelling abroad to purchase certain brands and products. Once 2000 rolled in, Qatar began a journey of developing an influx of shopping malls. After The Mall, Landmark Mall opened in 2000, soon followed by City Center Doha in 2001, Hyatt Plaza in 2003, Royal Plaza in 2005 and Villaggio Mall in 2007. Before the opening of these malls, shopping centres served only one purpose – to shop, excluding dining options and entertainment activites. Today, malls serve as both shopping and entertainment destinations for residents and visitors in Qatar. Shoppers can not only enjoy browsing through a wide variety of stores that offer a range of clothing, shoes, bags, jewellery and other body accessories, they are also spoilt for choice when it comes to dining – the sweet and the savoury. Newer malls include health initiatives, such as Doha Festival City with its Outdoor Leisure Trail, which caters for both running and cycling. Prior to the recent opening of Mall of Qatar and Doha Festival City, City Centre Doha and Villaggio Mall were considered to be the largest and most popular malls in the country. These two malls boasted the largest cinemas – featuring IMAX and 3D film screens for the first time in Qatar – and ice rinks. By 2010, major luxury brands such as Chanel, Dior, Versace, Rolex and Givenchy could be found locally and shopping tastes fell in line with the expensive trends of the region. The great majority of the current and upcoming retail developments in Qatar are focused on the high-end, luxury market. Qatar is an attractive market in this regard as it has one of the world’s highest per capita GDPs. Today, however, after more than a decade of modern retail development in the country, residents of Qatar can choose from a wide selection of high-end luxury brands at home, for which they used to travel abroad to the shopping districts of London, Paris, New York and more to find. m

The Centre opened in 1978

The Mall opened in 1997 The Mall opened in 1997

City Center-Doha opened in 2001 City Center Doha opened in 2001