Sustainability in retail is undergoing a major shift. What was once viewed as a branding message or corporate responsibility initiative is increasingly becoming a commercial necessity for malls, tenants, and consumers alike.

At Times Square Center, Dubai, this transition has been years in the making. According to Nancy Nese Ozbek, General Manager, Sharaf Group Mall Division, the centre began placing sustainability, education, healthy lifestyle, and community at the heart of its strategy around 2019, long before these themes became dominant expectations in the regional retail landscape.

For Ozbek, the conversation has clearly moved beyond surface-level communication.

“Sustainability has clearly moved beyond branding,” she says. “In the beginning, many people saw it mainly as marketing or corporate responsibility. At Times Square Center, we looked at it differently.”

SUSTAINABILITY AS A DRIVER OF TENANT RETENTION

Today, tenants are assessing green retail environments through a business lens. They are not only asking whether a mall has sustainability credentials, but whether the destination attracts the right visitors, supports their brand values, increases dwell time, reduces long-term operating pressure, and creates stronger customer loyalty.

Ozbek believes this directly influences tenant retention.

“Today, tenants evaluate sustainability commercially,” she explains. “They ask whether the destination attracts the right visitors, increases dwell time, supports their brand values, reduces long-term operating pressure, and creates loyalty.”

At Times Square Center, Picnic Square stands as a key example of this approach. The space achieved LEED Green Project certification and was designed with energy efficiency, natural materials, greenery, comfortable seating, biophilic elements, and organic waste collection from tenants. This waste is then recycled into plant food and hydration, reinforcing the centre’s circular approach to operations.

For retail destinations, such initiatives create value by improving the visitor experience. When customers feel comfortable, they stay longer, dine more, meet friends, attend events, and return. This, in turn, supports tenant performance and long-term retention.

PURPOSE-LED FOOTFALL AND CONSCIOUS CONSUMERS

Across the UAE and wider GCC, consumers are becoming more aware of ethical consumption and environmental impact. Ozbek says this shift is already influencing customer loyalty, footfall patterns, and spending behaviour within retail destinations.

“Consumers today are more conscious about where they spend their money and which destinations reflect their values,” she says. “They are not only asking what they are buying, but also who they are supporting and whether that place feels responsible, healthy, and authentic.”

Times Square Center has responded by building a tenant and partner ecosystem that reflects these values. ARTE brings handmade products and local artisans into the centre, while Ripe Market introduces community-focused merchants. Baby Bazaar supports pre-loved shopping, and House of Prose, a second-hand bookstore, reflects the principles of reduce, reuse, and recycle in an accessible and well-loved format.

The centre also highlights Thrift for Good, a charity thrift shop that rehomes preloved items to reduce waste while supporting children around the world.

According to Ozbek, these concepts generate purpose-led footfall. Visitors come for markets, books, workshops, family activities, and conscious shopping, then stay longer, dine, shop, and return.

MOVING FROM COMMUNICATION TO MEASURABLE IMPACT

In a competitive retail environment shaped by economic uncertainty and changing customer priorities, sustainability must be practical, visible, and measurable.

“To move from green PR to green profit, sustainability must be real, practical, and measurable,” Ozbek says. “It cannot be only a poster, campaign, or social media message. It must be visible in operations, design, tenant partnerships, waste management, energy efficiency, events, and customer experience.”

At Times Square Center, this means making sustainability hands-on. Recycling, for example, is not presented only as a collection exercise. Families and children are shown how plastic can be washed, turned into flakes, transformed into yarn, and used again for products such as bags, shoes, or sportswear.

The centre also integrates upcycling, planting, repair activities, LED lighting, daylight, ergonomic seating, and sustainable materials into its wider operations and experiences.

During COP28, Times Square Center hosted Sustainafest, which brought educational talks, panel discussions, workshops, upcycling activities, herb-growing sessions, homemade beauty product activities, and greener buying education to the community.

For Ozbek, measurement is key to ensuring these initiatives deliver commercial value. Energy savings, dwell time, event participation, tenant satisfaction, renewals, and customer return visits all help position sustainability as a business strategy rather than a communication tool.

A NEW LANDLORD-TENANT RELATIONSHIP

Ozbek has also seen growing demand from brands and retailers for environmentally responsible spaces, operations, and partnerships. Tenants increasingly understand that their own brand is connected to the destination they operate in.

“They are not only looking at rent, size, and location,” she says. “They are also looking at the values of the center, the quality of the community, and whether the management genuinely believes in responsible business.”

This has changed what tenants expect from retail operators. Recycling support, energy-conscious common areas, sustainable fit-out thinking, waste management, health and wellness events, family engagement, and meaningful community activations are becoming increasingly important.

At Times Square Center, these expectations are part of the centre’s culture. Through partners such as TishTash, the centre has hosted events including Health Love, which featured women’s and family health activities, health checks, wellness talks, workshops, and upcycling sessions. These included transforming old T-shirts into tote bags and making dog toys to donate to K9 Animal Shelter through Thrift for Good.

For Ozbek, such initiatives create a more human landlord-and-tenant relationship.

“It becomes a partnership based on shared values, trust, and long-term thinking,” she says.

DEFINING THE FUTURE OF GCC RETAIL

Looking ahead, Ozbek believes sustainability will become one of the defining differentiators for successful retail destinations across the GCC.

“If sustainability can differentiate Times Square Center, then it can absolutely differentiate the wider retail market,” she says.

She believes successful malls will no longer be judged only by size, location, or tenant mix. Instead, they will be evaluated by comfort, community, health, education, responsibility, authenticity, and the way they make people feel.

At Times Square Center, sustainability is not treated as a separate campaign. It is embedded into how the centre designs spaces, operates, leases, hosts events, and builds relationships.

For tenants, this creates a stronger value proposition. Sustainability supports retention not only through cost or compliance benefits, but through trust, shared values, stronger footfall, better customer experience, and the belief that the centre is helping their business grow in a healthier and more future-ready way.

As Ozbek concludes, “Retention is not only about rent. It is about trust, shared values, stronger footfall, better customer experience, and the belief that the center is helping the tenant’s business grow in a healthier and more future-ready way.”