Mall of Qatar to woo customers with racing simulator, Angry Birds park

Digital Formula One racing, Cirque du Soleil-style acrobatic theater and an Angry Birds activity park are among some of the offerings that will be part of the new Mall of Qatar, officials have said this week.

The $824 million under-construction facility is now expected to open at the end of 2015, months later than originally forecast, and experts say that the planned entertainment attractions could help the mall stand out in Doha’s increasingly crowded retail market.

The Mall of Qatar – located in Al Rayyan near Education City – is set to become the largest shopping center in the affluent and rapidly growing country when it opens, but will have to compete against other retail developments that are currently under construction, including the larger Festival City and Gulf Mall, as well as existing properties such as Villaggio and City Center malls.

That’s led many commercial real estate observers to predict Qatar will be oversupplied with shopping space once those new malls open their doors, as too many retailers chase too few shoppers.

But Shem Krey, the deputy managing director of Mall of Qatar, said he believes the new generation of shopping centers are in their own category, and would be able to attract a sufficient number of visitors at the expense of established properties:

“It’s a hard fact of commercial life that much of the older malls and shopping centers no longer have the retail mix, exciting entertainment concepts or other attractions that families are looking for today,” he said during a presentation at the annual Cityscape Qatar real estate exhibition this week.

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Mall of Qatar to woo customers with racing simulator, Angry Birds park