Things are starting to blossom at Reem Mall…

The huge 1.2 billion US Dollar mega project, Reem Mall seems to be in something of a soft opening phase, with the feeds of its combined social channels acting like a conveyor belt of ‘shutters up’ announcements over the past few days.

Once fully finished, it’ll hit slopes with a cool 85 different dining options, and more than 450 stores, across two million square feet of retail space.

New business

Reem Mall’s own journey to connecting with customers began in February 2022, with the opening of its first store, Carrefour. We had to wait a full year before the next big shutter raise, with Vox Cinemas dropping blockbusters and popping corn since February 2023.

Things have been moving a lot more quickly since then though with Calzedonia, Deichmann, Flying Tiger Copenhagen, and Intimissimi all makibg their Abu Dhabi debut in the last month.

Bershka, Boggi Milano, Decathlon, Eataly, KIKO Milano, Mango, Massimo Dutti, PAUL, Pull&Bear, Oysho, Sunglass Hut, Urban Outfitters, and Virgin Megastore have all also either just opened or are due to launch very very soon.

Other big fashion brands recently added to the mall map include Under Armour; Max Fashion; Ecco; Decathlon; Sfera Madrid; NU Athlete; Vans; North Face; and Columbia Sportswear. New home furnishing openings have included Chattels & More; Better Life; Homecentre; and Home Box.

Food options have arrived in the form of Subway’s swinging footlongs; Papa John’s righteous ‘Za; Mac daddy snacks from McDonald’s; and the sugar dizzying frenzy that comes from Caribou Coffee’s Fudgie-Wudgie. Several opticians have also come into focus; along with the alluring scent from perfumeries; Abu Dhabi jewelry store bling; play things from ToyStation; gadgets from Samsung; and distinguished deli countering from Spinney’s.

Still to come

The first capital openings for Mood, Reserved, Salsa, and Tezeni are set to drop imminently. The same is true for dining outlets New Shanghai and The Butcher Shop & Grill.

Snow business

And in a recent interview with Forbes, Mohammad El Etri — with the ultimate business card flex of having the job title ‘vice president of Global Snow for Majid Al Futtaim’ — we discovered that the long-awaited Snow Abu Dhabi is likely just a few months away from howling into operation.

Majid Al Futtaim has a blizzard of leisure entertainment projects hitting the slopes right now including other similar wintery wonderlands (hence El Etri’s job title), but Majid Al Futtaim’s snowman-in-chief teased an exciting timeline for the Abu Dhabi fro-zone, telling Forbes “we will open Snow Abu Dhabi in Q2″.

We’ve been following the story for years, and with the news that it’s finally nearly here, you can rest assured we’re not going to ‘LET IT GOOOO”. What Elsa could you reasonably expect from us?

What can we expect from Snow Abu Dhabi?

What will almost certainly take the top spot on the list ways to stay chill in the capital’s summer season — Snow Abu Dhabi will be ‘one of the world’s largest snow parks’ — offering sub zero encounters with themed-characters and exciting experiences.

These are probably the most exciting snow facts that we’ve ploughed through in our research on the attraction.

• There will be 12 exhilarating rides and 17 engaging attractions spread over a 10,000 square feet area.
• The temperature will be regulated to a super chilly 2ºC, and the slopes will be dusted in a snow capped coating to a depth of 500mm.
• Confirmed attractions include two giant slides, one named ‘Ice and Floes Toboggan Race’ which sounds nice and gentle, and ‘Grauppel’s Summit Escape’ which sounds less so.
• Rides include The Entry Plaza, Flight of the Snowy Owl, Magic Carpet, Polar Express Train, Crystal Carousel and Ice and Floes Bumper Tubes, The Trolls Bowl, Drifts Downhill Run, and Snow Hares Bunny Hill and The Enchanted Tree (which will serve as a sort of central part of the story telling aspect of the park).
• Snow Abu Dhabi dining experiences come in the form of The Lodge Restaurant, Grotto Amphitheatre, Ice Café, the Party Room and VIP Room.

Images: Provided/Instagram

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