Slow Dubai mall sales threaten luxury shopping recovery

Faltering sales in Dubai are threatening a much-needed recovery for the luxury retail market, just as LVMH, Kering and Hermès prepare to report earnings.

Revenues at Mall of the Emirates were down 30-50% for some brands in March compared to the same period last year, while footfall declines across flagship retail hubs, including a steeper slump at Dubai Mall, point to a broader pullback in discretionary spending among tourists and residents alike.

Even relatively resilient locations such as The Galleria Al Maryah Island in Abu Dhabi recorded weaker sales, suggesting the downturn is spreading beyond Dubai’s tourism-dependent economy.

The figures cast doubt on the Middle East’s role as a rare growth engine for luxury brands, as geopolitical tensions threaten to delay an already fragile global recovery in the sector, Reuters reports.

Dubai’s Mall of the Emirates gets makeover for 20th anniversary

Dubai’s Mall of the Emirates, home to the Middle East’s first indoor ski slope alongside its Prada, Dior and Armani boutiques, is heading for a makeover to celebrate its 20th anniversary.

Majid Al Futtaim Holding, owner of the 545-store consumer palace, will plow some $1.4 billion into the mall’s facelift, adding another 100 shops as well as a 600-seat theater, The National reports.

Opened in November 2005 alongside the city’s central traffic artery Sheikh Zayed Road, the glitzy shopping center competes with Emaar’s Dubai Mall, which sits not far away at the bottom of the 163-floor Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest skyscraper.

With a pack of penguins drawing children to Ski Dubai and its 1,300-foot artificial snow-covered slope, Mall of the Emirates counted 40 million visitors in 2025.

Nearly 100 restaurants and cafes, an Apple Store and the country’s biggest movie theater draw city dwellers and foreign tourists to its super air-conditioned galleries to escape the UAE’s stifling heat.

In March, Majid Al Futtaim reported 2024 profit rose 18%, with occupancy at its 29 malls across the region at 97%.

“This continuing transformation, coupled with the region’s strong economic momentum, has positioned Mall of the Emirates as one of the world’s highest-performing malls for leading brands,” Khalifa bin Braik, CEO of Majid Al Futtaim Asset Management, told the newspaper.

The Dubai-based company said this week it plans to launch a $4.7 billion mixed commercial and residential project in Riyadh, with design work underway and construction set to begin in early 2026.