The occasion was the first anniversary celebrations of Riyadh Avenue Mall that kicked off with free family fun, great Lulu offers, surprise gifts, and live entertainment.
"On the top of all, children were enjoying a variety of games and other excitements like face-painting and art activity at the Riyadh Avenue Mall, which is now ranked as one of the most popular malls not only in the Kingdom but the whole Gulf region," said Nemil T. N, the mall's spokesman.
"The mall can boast to have received more than 5 million customers during the last one year, which itself speaks about its popularity in the capital city."
Nemil thanked mall as well as Lulu Hypermarket management, including Sehim Mohammed Unni, Lulu regional director, and Naushad A. Mohamood, mall manager, for their support in organizing the anniversary celebrations. He also thanked shop owners and operators in the mall for extending all possible assistance to make the event a grand success.
He said anniversary celebrations will conclude on April 19.
Speaking about the features of the mall, Nemil said: “It is encouraging to see such a large number of families, both Saudi and expat, join us in our first anniversary celebrations. We thank the leaders of the Kingdom and the people of this great country--both Saudis and residents--for their continuous support toward Lulu Group and Riyadh Avenue Mall," said Nemil.
The Riyadh Avenue Mall, which has a built up area of over 1 million square feet, has 95 shops and two six-storeyed towers including the famous Lulu Hypermarket, he added.
He said the major attraction of the celebrations is the "Shop 2 Win" program with hundreds of valuable prizes including LCD televisions and iPads to be given until the last day of the anniversary celebrations. A large number of international brands, local business entities and companies offering public services including Tahweel Al-Rajhi, Portfolio Studio, Genius Tailors, Joyalukkas Jewelry Stores, Pizza Inn and Indian Kitchen are there in the mall to serve customers.
"The mall will soon have a shoe repair facility, a laptop repair shop and plant nursery as well," said Nemil.
Referring to the participating companies in the celebrations, he said. Giordano, Colours Digital Studio, Dr Café, Zohoor Alreef, Asgharali, House of Donuts, Al Falah Opticals, Joyalukkas, City of Watches, Mumbai Bazar, Silver Palace and Darussalam among others are participating in the celebrations with different kinds of offers for customers. This is in addition to a number of entertainment programs. "On the top of this, there are mascots and clowns to entertain the crowd, especially children," added Nemil.
Referring to the celebration, which is drawing huge crowds daily, he said: "We decided to have a celebration with our customers as we owe our success to them entirely. This is our way of saying thank you to our well-wishers and our backbone, the customers," said Nemil.
People were dressed up as various characters from folklore and history during the festival. Multiple workshops and events have been organized.
"Essentially, the festival was aimed at acquiring the mind space of the shoppers and to communicate to them that Riyadh Avenue Mall is a destination that provides an international experience," he added.
"Going inside Riyadh Avenue Mall, there is a fountain waiting for visitors, which is really impressive. And as soon as you pass the fountain, there are some really good shops that sell clothes and food.”
He claimed there are at least thousands of customers, both men and women, at the mall at any given time of the day.
"This itself demonstrates the popularity of the mall among the city dwellers," said Nemil.