Parco Mall Doha opened its doors in July 2011 with some great features. It had Food World (supermarket) as its main tenant, several excellent independent retailers and an excellent food court.
Here is a link to the press release published on Qatar Living http://www.qatarliving.com/forum/qatar-living-lounge/posts/parco-mall-opens-today
And here is a link to Mr Q’s Vlog
https://youtu.be/gmk9ho83KlM
I used to love this mall. At the time I was living in Abu Hamour and Parco Mall was a very welcome addition to the area. We were regular visitors to Popeye’s, Yellow Cab and the New White Oceanic Restaurant. We would also pop into Red Tag and Food World while we were there. It was a nice bright fresh mall with plenty to offer. Parking was a bit of a struggle, but we could normally find a space.
One of my main regrets is I didn’t photograph it when it was in its prime. I searched my library and I only have one image taken there. I never captured the hanging garden, and that was a really nice feature that looked fabulous. And when I searched the net for someone else’s images to use, I discovered there aren’t any. In fact, there are just a handful of images all of which weren’t worth publishing here as they were like my single image, just of people eating in the food court.
In May 2012 Dar Al Salam Mall in Abu Hamour opened its doors. And I believe that this immediately started detracting from visits to Parco.
Over time more and more facilities started opening in and around the area and there started to be changes to the vendors in Parco Mall as some retailers left, and others arrived.
We continued to pop in now and again to enjoy the food court, but one by one the changes there meant less and less outlets that we liked. And today the only reason we go, is for the New White Oceanic Restaurant. An excellent value Sri Lankan eatery that offers an unlimited buffet for just QR 9 per person.
There was a name change not so long ago. The signage for Parco Mall came down, and the name Quality Mall went up. Food World got replaced by a Quality Supermarket and more and more units became available.
Then more recently, all the signage came down. Now the mall has no name and no supermarket as Quality have vacated the location as well.
Now the whole building is looking very sad. With so many units boarded up and empty. It’s such a shame to see it like this. But I guess the building is finding it difficult to be financially viable.
I hope that there is plans to renovate and reinvigorate. We will continue to go for food at the New Whit Oceanic, and perhaps I can write something nice about improvements there in the near future.
