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I’m now at the Avenues Phase III and I saw that both The Prestige and Souk districts were opened, I took a quick stroll around The Prestige and fellas don’t tell your ladies about it because they will surely make your wallets super slim especially when they see the largest Louis Vuitton, Dolce & Gabbana and Dior boutiques in the Middle East. The Prestige is built on two levels and there were several first-time high-end brands in Kuwait in addition to some cafe’s, the part that I liked most was the luxurious material used in finishing works and the color changing dome and fountain in the center, also boutiques designs were catchy, it somehow reminds me of the luxury zone in Dubai Mall. Some of the boutiques and cafe’s that I saw include;

Louis Vuitton

Dolce & Gabbana

Dio

Chanel

Chopard

Emporio Armani Caffe

Versace

FENDI

TOM FORD

MIU MIU

PRADA

HUBLOT

Ralph Lauren

Max Mara

Jimmy Choo

TOD’S

Fauchon Paris Le Café

Burberry

ESCADA

Harry Winston

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The Souk District was also opened today and as expected it resembles the design of Mubarkia souk with small lanes and traditional shops scattered around. Like I said before that my remark is that the lanes were very narrow, so I guess it will be hard for shoppers to move around at peak hours.

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Today I had a sneak peek tour to check the progress of the remaining districts that will open shortly at the Avenues Phase III, the Grand Avenue was indeed impressive but I think with the new districts the Avenues will become one of the ultimate shopping destinations in Kuwait and GCC. So buckle up and let’s see what is waiting for us at Phase III.

Prestige District: I took a short walk around it, it’s a Salhiya-like shopping mall yet with bigger scale, so those who seek luxury (Kash5a in Kuwaiti) will like it. it’s built on two-levels with a nice dome in the center and there will be valet parking and hands-free shopping services. Some of the high-end brands boutiques include;

Louis Vuitton

Armani

Prada

Gucci

Chopard

Dolce & Gabbana

Chanel

Dior

Fendi

Burberry

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SoKu: District:  It stands for South of Kuwait, they said it’s youth-oriented; a funky place influenced from New York’s bohemian Soho district. It will include Millions of Milkshakes, iHop, Kevingston, and cafe’s and restaurants. I overheard they are offering lower rate for leasing to help small businesses, though I’ve to confirm that.

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I took a stroll in the afternoon at the awaited Grand Avenue District in Avenues Phase III, it was interesting seeing all those new shops, stores, restaurants and cafe’s open all at once. Many of my friends thought this is Avenues Phase III, but actually there are 4 other districts coming up (Prestige, The Souk, Soku, and The Mall).

I observed that Phase III is quiet different with regards to architectural design (contractor Mabanee did a pretty good job) where the 5 districts are interconnected through the Grand Avenue District (see figure below).

The Grand Avenue looked like a tree-lined boulevard similar to Shanzelize in Paris, the architecture was a mix of three styles; European, Regional, and Contemporary under a curved roof, nice. I also liked how the A/C was totally hidden and how the roof was transparent allowing sun light to penetrate. My concern is that the new parking lot is not yet completed, so finding a parking space can be a major headache during peak hours, also I wish if there are more entrances to The Avenues since the entrance by the 5th Ring Road and the backside entrances from the two-lanes road are congested all the time.

So now I’ll focus on the part you are all waiting for, the shopping experience isn’t it? Well these are the first-time stores in Kuwait that were opened so far;

The Cheesecak Factory

Texas Roadhouse

Garrett Popcorn

COS

Harvey Nichols

Jack Wills

West Elm

Williams-Sonoma

Sarar

Pink

Teavana

Jo Malone London

New branches for existing stores; H&M, Shake Shack, Starbucks, MAC, Juicy Couture, pinkberry, Bath & Body Works, Potbelly, Pizza Express, Vilebrequin.

As for the opening soon stores and restaurants, these are the ones that I saw;

Millions of Milkshakes

Red Lobster

Olive garden

Ben’s Cookies

Veranda

vision express

Muji

Lacoste

Tory Burch

Dior

Tanagra

Kevingstone

Uno Chicago Grill

Cafe Blanc

Kaizen

Shahrayar

Life With Cacao

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الافينيوز المرحلة الجديدة

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Several weeks ago I expected that the opening date for Cheesecake Factory will be on 30th of October [link], this was the planned date that my secret source has told me about but I guess there were some delays that made AlShaya postpone the opening, good news is that I just saw that The Avenues has tweeted on their official twitter account that the opening will be on 6th of November (that’s next Tuesday) at the Grand Avenue District, I believe that’s also the day Avenues Phase III will open and hopefully no more delays.

Read about my previous experience with Cheesecake Factory [link]

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We finally had the chance today to have a tour at the new Avenues mall expansion (AKA Phase III) that is currently in its final stages of construction and planned to open on September 2012. We arrived there at 1:00 PM where a team from the Avenues were waiting for us and  then we were taken on a tour throughout the different districts of the Phase-III.

[Watch on YouTube]

I must say I’m impressed with what I’ve seen and now I’m confident to say that the Avenues will be the largest shopping mall in the region when Phase-III is completed.

The total Phase-III area is about 100, 000 sq.meter and will include over 400 retail shops (that’s equal to Phase I&II combined) that are distributed over 4 districts (Grand Avenue, Prestige, The Souk, Soku, and Bazaar) and there will be 5,000 parking on three basement levels.

I noticed that Phase-III is quiet different with regards to designs and concept where 5 unique districts are being connected, each of these districts has its own concept and idea. The contractor is Mabanee and most of the remaining works were finishings.

Grand Avenue district: This is where we started our tour, it looked like a tree-lined boulevard similar to Shanzelize in Paris, the architecture was a mix of three styles; European, Regional, and Contemporary under a curved roof, nice. I also liked how the A/C was hidden.

Prestige District: This is Salhiya-like shopping mall for those who seek luxury (Kash5a in Kuwaiti), its built on two-levels with high-end brands stores, there will be valet parking and hands-free shopping services.

Soku District: It stands for South of Kuwait, they say this is youth-oriented; a funky place influenced from New York’s bohemian Soho district. There will be retail shops, cafe’s, and restaurants for young people.

Souk District: As we walked around the Souk district I observed that the designs were resembling old and traditional Kuwaiti souk, it looked like Souk Mubarkiya with narrow streets and small shops.

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The Avenues Mall has just released a new 3D animation for the new expansion – Phase III that is planned to open by end of 2012.

The Phase III will include Tree-lined boulevard, luxury retail brands, Mall connecting phase II and III, Traditional Kuwaiti souk, Urban shopping experience, and Traditional bazaar. 

I believe with new Phase III the avenues Mall will be the biggest mall in Middle East, can’t wait for the opening!

Images via [link]

[Gallery not found]

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Today we had a site visit to the Avenues Mall’s under-construction Phase III. The new expansion is expected to complete by the end of 2012.

We had a chance to see under constructions works, and learn more about the new expansion. I think with the new Phase III, the mall will look even more amazing and be the largest in the middle east.

The new phase III is consists of 6 defined districts:

Grand Avenue: Tree-lined boulevard covering 17,911 sq. m.

Prestige: Two levels provide up to 74 luxury retail brands.

The Mall: Extension connecting phase II and III.

The Souk:  Traditional Kuwaiti souk.

Soku: Urban shopping experience.

Bazaar: Traditional bazaar.

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