Best Time to Open the World's Largest Mall?

The world's largest shopping mall has opened in the United Arab Emirates, which is ground zero for the luxurious, overindulgent, and outrageously flashy (see: Dubailand amusement park). Still, I love the idea of Arabs shopping at Gucci and then munching a Cinnabon: the store directory is a sign that, indeed, globalization is complete and the world, from British lingerie maker Agent Provocateur to the California Pizza Kitchen, is now represented in more than 12 million square feet, complete with ice rink and aquarium. Only about 600 of the anticipated 1,200 shops were in operation for the mall's opening, already delayed from the initial 2006 goal, earlier this month; stores to come include anchor store Bloomingdale's. And lethal shark fights in the aquarium were another roadblock to a timely opening.

Now, I'm planning a pilgrimage to the Dubai Mall as soon as possible. But will the $20 billion center, especially as it's still so far from completion in terms of retail move-ins, receive the 30 million visitors it counted on its first year? Especially as the economic crisis has spread around the globe as it has? SkyNews reports that the building boom is starting to fizzle out in Dubai, perhaps because the tiny nation counts on a steady stream of tourism to soak money into its lavish excesses.