KAREEM SHAMMA
CEO
Doha Festival City
Doha Festival City is difficult to categorize. Essentially, we are an entertainment and leisure destination that includes a large retail component. The type of entertainment we provide is diversified, and that is what differentiates us from all the other primarily retail malls. We have innovative attractions such as the first snow park in Qatar and the first Angry Birds theme park in the world. We also have two other unique theme parks: Virtuocity, a physical gaming theme park, and Juniverse, which is based on an edutainment concept where children combine entertainment with education in a unique setting. It is set on a space station in the year 2030 when Qatar will have realized its National Vision. It is a fantastic concept that ties in well with the Qatari community's vision and the whole tourism drive here.
SEAN KELLY
Project Director
Place Vendôme
United Developers' owners saw an opportunity to build the next quantum leap in retail developments in Lusail. With their experience traveling throughout the world, they all agreed that Paris and in particular the Place Vendôme represented the epicenter of fashion, luxury, and retail. Therefore, bringing a little bit of Paris to Arabia was the idea that they initially developed for the project. However, the effort was to not be a literal translation of Paris, so we did a lot of studies with Parisian architects to understand the language of Paris across the spectrum of time. That led us to develop a language with the appropriate proportions, sizes, and presentation to be adapted to Qatar. Subsequently, we took this idea on a roadshow to Europe where we met the majority of the luxury brands in Paris, Milan, Dubai, and Cannes to get their opinion about the project and got incredibly positive feedback.
MOHAMMED A.K. AL EMADI
CEO
Al Emadi Enterprises
The Alhazm project itself came from Doha. Everything is done in-house, including the design, planning, and management of the project, through our companies Al Emadi Enterprises, Stones, Fire, Solar, and Etisaq. Regarding partnerships with international brands and restaurants, we aim to be very strong and selective. We feel there is a shortage of fine dining in Doha outside of the luxury hotels. What's more, many of the brands in Doha have already been here for a while and are virtually the same. Nothing is different. Malls are malls everywhere you go; the layouts might be different but that is all. That is why when it comes to the F&B companies, they want to be part of this project because it is not a mall, and it is not a food court. It is a project that everyone wants to be associated with. The expectation is that Alhazm will be the top destination in Qatar and will make our position known to everyone here and in the GCC.
JASSIM TAWAR AL-KUWARI
Chairman
Tawar Mall
Our motive is not to be competitive in the retail sector. Our ambition and focus are to bring a whole new experience to Qatar, one that the region has yet to experience. We want to be unique and stand out in every manner possible; for that we have incorporated fascinating ideas and brought in new concepts to be implemented for the first time ever in the region. The rooftop lounge will have a wide range of dining options under the sky alongside a dancing water fountain that will enthrall guests. The old souq is another traditional feature that will give the mall an ancient medieval feeling. Our strategy is to bring in a wide variety of shopping offers and make Tawar Mall a groundbreaking shopping destination. To do so, we are bringing in over 300 retail units, of which more than 60 are renowned flagship stores from around the world entering Qatar for the first time.