Malls and mall-ing...a global phenomenon!

In one of my previous blogs, I featured the lowly, but highly reliable, hardworking donkey.  This time I want to give you a flavour of affluence in Cairo. Sometime ago, I went to have dinner at Porto Cairo Mall...a newly opened mall along the ring road connecting Cairo city to Ismailia and Alexandria. Since it is a weekend, I hired a private taxi to take me to and from the place. Since this mall opened (although it is not yet completed), it has become a favorite dinner/weekend destination by both locals and foreigners, especially those who live in the neighborhood of Rehab (a residential area). It has branches of some of the best restaurant chains in town. It is so modern, if one did not notice the largely Arabic speaking crowd, one could think he or she is in a European capital. Egypt, being a middle income country,  has many features of modernity, inspite of various interpretations around religious conservatism  portrayed by media.

 Have you ever been to a mall and wondered, where and when did this phenomenon of people (families, friends, coworkers, tourists, etc. ) spending hours shopping, eating, strolling, seeing a movie, window shopping, people watching, or just enjoying an airconditioned ambience) begin? 


 

 Did you know that shopping malls existed in Ancient Rome? Wikipidea on the history of malls says, “they originated in the forums where the markets were located? If you think about it, a shopping mall is not all that unusual when you look at the history of commerce? Even in ancient societies, and along trade routes, all the shopping was located along one thoroughfare or in one marketplace. If you fast-forward 2,000 years, the concept of a shopping mall is still alive and at work in a much bigger and more uniform way, in the modern shopping mall.”Do you know what was the earliest shopping mall? Trajan’s Market in Ancient Rome was built around 100, and that was the first real shopping mall. It was a direct forerunner to the modern shopping mall. If you want to look at one of the earliest shopping malls that is still around, just look at The Grand Bazaar of Istanbul, which was built in the 15th century. It’s still one of the biggest shopping centers in the entire world, and it has over 4,000 shops and 58 streets. However, if you’re really talking about mall-type shopping centers, and not just masses of stores in one central area, then you need to look at Gostiny Dvor in St. Petersburg, and it opened in 1785. There were about 100 shops there.

My research also led me to find out the top 11 biggest malls in the world. I was surprised to see that 2 of them were in the Philippines, 3 in Malaysia, 2 in China, 2  in Iran,  1 in Thailand, 1 in Turkey, as follows: Mall of Asia (Phils)  and SM City (Phils);  Sunway Pyramid , Mid Valley Mega Mall and Utama Mall (Malaysia); Cevahir Mall (Turkey); Isfahan City Center and Persian Gulf Complex (Iran); Central World (Thailand); Golden Resources Mall and New South China Mall ( China); They range in size from about 400 to over 1000 shops in one location that can span from about  700 sq feet to  6 million square feet.

In Egypt, malls have also started to mushroom in recent years especially in Cairo, in Alexandria and other urban parts of Egypt, among them:  Mercato in Sharm-El Sheik,  Arkadia Mall , Cairo Gate Village,  City Light Mall,  Cleopatra Plaza Mall in Alexandria,  Cleopatra Village Mall, Dandy Mega Mall,  Designopolis,  Festival Centre, Galleria Shopping and Leisure Center,  Green Plaza in Alexandria,  Maadi City Centre,  Madinaty Park,  Mall of Arabia in Guhina Square,  Mivida New Cairo City, Nile Plaza, Rehab Mall 2,  San Stefano Mall in Alexandria,  Stars Centre, the First Mall,  the Venice Canal Mall in El Alamain,  Uptown Cairo Mall, etc.  
Porto Cairo Mall is a new concept of shopping mixed with entertainment and the perfect location that could be reached from 10-15 minutes from anywhere in Cairo.   It has a variety of 180 shopping brand names that would suite the tastes of all mall visitors. The mix of Entertainment mediums at the Porto Cairo mall is irresistible between the 6-screen cinema, the sky café overlooking the dancing fountain, food court, and international restaurants. Once fully completed, the mall will have a parking capacity for about 1000 cars, and more than 5o international restaurants and cafes, the largest outdoor and kids park, and fashion street with the biggest international brands.

Malls and malling - it has become a favorite destination and pastime among friends and families alike.  I don't know about you.. but me, I also enjoy malling, but when it is too big, I get tired and easily lost. I like medium sized malls, and sometimes even  smaller good ol' department stores, where one can find most of what one needs much easily. Although, because malls make you walk a lot, it's also a healthy past time. Its also therapeutic, when you want to get rid of stress. The downside, it also makes you spend.  Window shopping is great, but sometimes, its hard to resist the temptation of buying. 

Have you ever been to a mall without buying anything?