BurJuman 'Officially' world's most luxurious fashion destination

The record, achieved by attracting such high profile brands including Saks Fifth Avenue and Louis Vuitton as exclusive presences in the Mall, adds to BurJuman's unique positioning in the region's competitive luxury shopping market, and adds another 'world first' ranking to Dubai's ever-growing list of landmark attractions.

As part of the comparison, BurJuman beat out world-famous malls for the top spot, including Ball Harbour in Florida, which is an open mall. Recently a number of enclosed malls in China, Indonesia and Malaysia like the famous Suria KLCC Mall in Kuala Lumpur have also emerged as high-end shopping havens offering luxury goods. However, BurJuman remains the global innovator and holds its lead position.

The mall has now surpassed leading fashion destinations such as Sloane Street, Bond Street, Ave Montaigne and Rodeo Drive in terms of concentration of brands.

'With today's announcement, we can proudly state that BurJuman now hosts the most significant collection of high fashion brands of any single shopping resort in the world. This is a significant achievement and another first for Dubai, which has set the pace of growth and development in the provision of luxury shopping for the Middle East,' said Eisa Adam Ibrahim, general manager, BurJuman.

'We anticipate that awareness of the number of flagship designer stores in BurJuman will continue to grow, as the public recognizes that this is clearly the most sought-after retail space in the region,' he added.

Some of the mall's exclusive tenants include Saks Fifth Avenue, Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Loewe, Emanuel Ungaro, Valentino, Moschino, Tods, Gianfranco Ferre, Etro, Christian Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, Christian Lacroix and Van Cleef & Arpels. The mall also houses Prada, Versace, Salvatore Ferragamo, Just Cavalli, Kenzo, Cartier, and Chanel.

Global positioning of iconic shopping resorts like BurJuman is one of the key factors encouraging higher-than-ever numbers of tourists to visit Dubai, according to retail experts. Luxury has increasingly become a key driver in people's choice of holiday destination and BurJuman's unrivalled offering of high end international brands has enabled the city to become a luxury shopper's paradise.

Retail space in Dubai is set to skyrocket to 27 million square feet by 2010, up from 6.5 million square feet at present, said Eddie O'Sullivan, a leading regional economist, commenting on the overall scenario.

'Retail is already one of the region's most dynamic sectors, and the rapid growth we are witnessing in the UAE is incredible, with 75 percent of new mall development in the GCC happening right here in Dubai. The challenge for established malls will be how they adapt to this change and maintain their competitive edge,' he added.

'As a pioneer in the high-end retail sector, we will continue to amplify our many competitive advantages, maintaining at all times that for luxury-conscious consumers, there is no alternative to BurJuman,' concluded Ibrahim.

The BurJuman expansion project features extensive retail, commercial, leisure and residential developments and covers an area of 4.4 million square feet. Apart from the mall extension, the project includes a 22-storey office tower containing state-of-the-art offices, a hi-tech business centre, a 20,000 square foot exclusive conference hall, Internet facilities, cafes, a fully equipped gymnasium and other sports facilities while the residential complex will comprise 163 furnished and semi furnished condominiums in addition to a block of fully furnished luxury apartments.