Mall of the Emirates wins 'Retail Destination of the Year' category at the World Retail Awards 2007

Voted for by a Grand Jury that includes many of the world's top retailers and senior industry experts, the Retail Destination of the Year category has been designed to celebrate the street, mall or city that demonstrates the most attractive retail mix, growing footfall and a commitment to innovation. Majid Al Futtaim was awarded the prize for delivering a first class shopping and leisure experience with a prestigious retail offer.

Located in the growth area known as New Dubai, Mall of the Emirates opened in September 2005, and is home to more than 440 international retail brands. Renowned for its broad consumer offer, the mall, which incorporates both high street chains and high end luxury boutiques, is anchored by Carrefour, Debenhams and Harvey Nichols.

The retail offer is seamlessly integrated with a range of unique family leisure experiences, including Ski Dubai, one of the world's largest indoor ski slopes, Magic Planet, a two level family entertainment centre, a 14 screen cinema, 75 cafes and restaurants and a five star Kempinski hotel with 500 rooms. The mall has helped to cement Dubai's growing reputation as a tourist destination and has attracted shoppers and consumers from all around the world.

Ian McGarrigle, congress director of the World Retail Congress, comments:

"Mall of the Emirates deserves the recognition of 'Retail Destination of the year'. It is an example of a centre which has not only taken us to new heights in terms of size, but also in terms of the quality of its retail and leisure offer."

Organised in association with KSA (Kurt Salmon Associates), the World Retail Awards were held during a glittering ceremony at the Palau Nacional, Barcelona to recognise and celebrate global excellence across different disciplines, sectors and borders, rewarding outstanding economic, creative and ethical achievements. The 'Retail Destination of the Year' award was sponsored by Aldar, Mall of the Emirates.

Other category winners during the evening were:
Emerging Market Retailer of the Year (Sponsored by SAS): Pantaloon Retail
Marketing Campaign of the year (Sponsored by Fujitsu): Sainsbury's "Active Kids 205-2006"
Innovation Format of the Year (Sponsored by Fawaz Alhokair): American Girl Place
Responsible Retailer of the Year (Sponsored by Fawaz Alhokair): Marks & Spencer
Best Use of Technology (Sponsored by SAP): Vodafone with Fujitsu and Q-MATIC

Many major industry players were also short listed for the titles "Retailer of the Year" and "Multi Market Retailer of the Year", with the grand jury selecting:

Multi Market Retailer of the Year (Sponsored by OC&C Strategy Consultants): Ikea
Retailer of the Year (Sponsored by KSA): Inditex

Other awards included the unveiling of the "Consumer Icon of the Year" (sponsored by Nokia) which honoured Kate Moss for her massive influence on retail trends, and the induction of three legendary names into the "Retail Hall of Hame" (sponsored by IBM) which honours the role played by individual industry leaders in creating and leading retail businesses. The Hall of Fame inductees were Ingvar Kamprad, Founder and chairman - Ikea; Masatoshi Ito, Honorary chairman - Ito Yokado; and Gordon Segal, Founder and CEO - Crate & Barrell.

The World Retail Awards Grand Jury includes Paul Charron, Chairman Emeritus, Liz Claiborne; Sir Geoff Mulcahy, Chairman, British Retail Consortium; Rick Darling, President, Li & Fung USA; Bernie Brookes, Chief Executive, Myer; Marty Wikstrom, Partner, Atelier Management LLC and Non-Executive Director, Compagnie Financière Richemont SA; Simon Sussman, CEO, Woolworths South Africa; Ravi Dahr, Director, Yale Center for Customer Insights; Jennifer Woo, President, Lane Crawford, Bill Pace, CEO, Kurt Salmon Associates; and David Bosshart, CEO, GDI.