Last week, Sharjah City Centre reflected on the past year with retailers and guests at the 2011 Retailers Annual General Meeting (AGM) hosted at the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce.
As presented to the capacity crowd, sales and traffic remained steady given the tough economic landscape that greeted the first half of 2010. Moreover, towards the end of 2010, Sharjah City Centre observed a small decline in traffic, with overall sales finishing slightly below the previous year - which is healthy considering market conditions.
“Already in 2011 we are seeing very encouraging signs of a significantly renewed and confident shopper with sales figures up by 10% already this year. We are also seeing a change in our shopper profile both with statistics of an increased household income up by 20% along with customer staying in our mall for longer periods. We are also seeing a change in our retail mix as we will soon welcome 10 new stores to our mall”, explained Anna Mansour, mall manager, Sharjah City Centre.
At the conclusion of the meeting, 11 awards across as many categories were presented to the retailers based on selection criteria such as sales performance, operational compliance and standards of customer service.
Fashion honours went to Carter’s who was named Best Fashion Store whilst McDonalds & and Jacky’s won for Best Food & Beverage Outlet and Best Electronics respectively. Other winners were Lifestyle, Body Shop, Aldo, Seddiqi& Sons and Al Jaber Optics in various categories.
Closing out the ceremony with a People’s Choice Award was Carrefour and with top honours, Splash for winning in the Best Anchor Store and Retailer of the Year categories.
