Morocco Mall: First Guinness World Record™ for the largest in-store shop façade
Casablanca, November 17th 2011 – The Galeries Lafayette department store in Casablanca, whose doors are set to open on December 5th along with Morocco Mall, has been awarded a Guinness World Record™ as having “The largest in-store shop façade has a combined area of 3,381.92 m² (36,402.68 ft²) distributed over the three-storey Galeries Lafayette shop (France) located in the Morocco Mall shopping centre in Casablanca, Morocco. The store, developed and managed by Groupe Aksal (Morocco), was designed by Davide Padoa of Design International (UK) and it will be inaugurated in December 2011.”
With an overall height of 14m over 3 floors, the façade of Galeries Lafayette in Casablanca wraps itself gracefully around the shop for nearly 241m. This façade surpasses all architectural splendour: backlit and made of aluminum bronze, it is modelled, with aesthetic design and motifs, on the famous dome of the original store on Boulevard Haussmann in Paris, which has been classified as a historical monument since 1975.
The Galeries Lafayette store in Casablanca is a venture of the AKSAL Group who owns the franchise.
About Morocco Mall
Located on the Casablanca Corniche by the Atlantic Ocean, Morocco Mall will be ranked in the top 5 destination malls of the world at its opening. Morocco Mall is the first and only destination Mall in the Mediterranean and Africa. Stretching over 10 hectares (24,700 acres) and with an investment of 200 million Euros, Morocco Mall offers a diverse shopping experience combining retail, leisure and food & beverage inviting everyone to enjoy their own unique and magical experience, with family or with friends, in a truly original and contemporary architectural design.
With 70,000m² (753,500sp.feet) of commercial space and 350 stores, Morocco Mall brings together 600 brands of infinite variety from luxury fashion to culture, gastronomy, entertainment and leisure, many of which will be opening a store in Africa for the first time.
With the opening of Morocco Mall, 21,000 indirect jobs and 5,000 direct jobs will be created. Morocco Mall is an ambitious project carried out by AKSAL and Al Jedaie Groups which is creating a positive and sustainable change to the landscape of Casablanca and Morocco as well as the consumption patterns of the region.
http://www.moroccomall.com
About the AKSAL Group
Founded in the early years of 2000 by its Chairman, Salwa Idrissi Akhannouch, the AKSAL Group has in the last decade set itself up as a national leader of its many industries by deploying large-scale projects adding to the value of the Kingdom of Morocco.
The AKSAL Group continues to assert its leadership thanks to a pertinent organization structured around 5 business units: Retail (which owns and operates the franchises of Zara, Massimo Dutti, Zara Home, Pull & Bear, Oysho, Bershka, Uterqüe, Banana Republic, GAP, New Look), Luxury (franchises of MAC, Fendi, Gucci, La Martina and Dior in joint venture), Department Stores (franchises of Galeries Lafayette and FNAC), Aksal Property for real-estate and the Malls whose ambition is to develop Malls in Morocco (whose first major achievement is Morocco Mall in partnership with the Al Jedaie Group).
Thanks to the talents of its 1,500 employees of which most are Moroccan, but also of 20 other nationalities, the AKSAL Group has broadened and deepened its capabilities while remaining true to its 100% Moroccan values.
As well as their expertise, the Group is aware that sustainable economic development must be coupled with and take into account the involvement and development of man. AKSAL takes great pride in its human and political policies, making an impact on its social, environmental and cultural relations with its clients, partners and employees through the AKSAL Academy and the AKSAL Social Initiative.
www.groupeaksal.com
About Galeries Lafayette Casablanca
Galeries Lafayette Casablanca offers 10,000m² of commercial space with 6 different themed partitions: Female fashion, Male fashion, Children’s fashion, Accessories, Shoes and Beauty. The Galeries Lafayette will house more than 300 international brands of which over 90% are available in Morocco for the first time. In anticipation of its opening, 300 employees were hired and trained in a program exclusive to Morocco, established with the support of the French Chamber of Commerce and the Galeries Lafayette, with an objective to guarantee quality of service and selling advice.
The qualitative offer of the Galeries Lafayette Casablanca will be inspired on the current trends and adapted to the local market through a dedicated team of buyers.
About Davide Padoa and Design International
Davide Padoa is the Chief Executive Officer of Design International UK. Davide Padoa started his career in Asia after graduating from both the Faculty of Architecture of Milan and the University of Pomona (California). At the age of 25, he had signed the tallest building in Jakarta for the Dharmala Banking Group and the PSP Group. In 1998, he joined Design International, an international architectural firm based in London.
He became Chief Executive Officer in 2006 and as such he oversees major projects undertaken by Design International in over 30 countries over 4 continents. Under Davide’s direction, Design International has won several international awards including the prize for “Best Commercial Architecture” for Morocco Mall at the International Property Awards in 2009.
www.designinternational.com
Contacts Presse :
Morocco Mall
Fleishman-Hillard
Justine Gilles
justine.gilles@fleishman.com
+33 (0)1 47 42 48 16
Design International
Gianluca Gerosa
gianluca.gerosa@designinternational.com
+39 339 713 4122
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