Retail is detail for Ezdan Mall’s Awan

He was on cloud nine and this excitement was due to a hard-earned achievement. He had won a couple of prestigious awards not only for the establishment he was calling the shots for, but also for himself as the jury had declared him the best “Retail Professional of the Year” in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

His humble, gregarious nature does not allow him taking full credit for himself. “It is the success of my whole team,” said Malik Qaiser Awan with a smiling face, adding that the awards were also an honour for Qatar, his “second homeland”. His phones were ringing incessantly as he was receiving congratulations from across the world on his life-time achievement. “This award is like “Grammy” or “Oscar” in our retail industry,” he said in a lighter vein. But, he asserted, his real award was the satisfaction of customers.

The International Council of Shopping Centres (ICSC) has recently bestowed a “Gold Award” on Malik Qaiser Awan, Group General Mnager Ezdan Malls in “Retail Professional of the Year” category while the mall itself has won a silver award for “Customer Services” in MENA region.

He is simple and straightforward; confident but careful and contended. Whenever, he talks about Qatar or Ezdan Mall, a palpable sense of comfort and pride starts flowing out of his voice. “Being a great admirer and believer in the vision of the Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Ali Thani, I always try following it,” he said.

Qaiser’s courageous approach of applying out-of-box solutions to business obstacles forced him to introduce which he now dubs an “out-of-mall” solution to make Ezdan Mall a success story.

Retail is detail: the latest variant of old maxim “the devil is in the detail” has been fully understood and applied by Group GM Ezdan Mall. “We had competitors, had challenges, had troubles to surmount when I joined the mall before its launch in 2011. The weaknesses or neglected-areas of other malls became our strength as we engineered our model with extensive surveys and research,” says Awan.

They say trifles make perfection but perfection is no trifle. Same applies on Malik Qaiser’s approach of dealing with challenges. He said he had designed the mall like a mega-departmental-store showcasing multiple-brands in each department. “Despite all odds, we succeeded in securing 171 brands which opened their outlets at Ezdan. Out of them, 65 brands were entering Qatar for the first time.”

Today, Ezdan Mall enjoys the highest Q-Score in Qatar rather in the whole region. “Though it is a neighbourhood or community mall but due to its good reputation and services, we are also catering customers from neighbouring countries like Saudi Arabia, Bahrain etc.” Definitely, all demographic considerations were taken into account at the time of establishing Ezdan Mall and at its branding time, but the mainstay behind the marketing strategy was intensive and impeccable psycho-graphic study. What do people want like simple questions.

Awan’s experience says that the age of brand-loyalty is over. “The shopping experience moves the millennial-generation. And here, we provide that experience to everyone.” But at the same time, he says that they have ensured the presence of only current brands at the mall.

Customer service is the bedrock principle of Ezdan Mall managers. “Recently we received a complaint message on Facebook from a customer at 10:52 pm. Within 28 minutes, he was contacted with an apology and the very next day we had a one-agenda meeting on how and why a customer had got annoyed? Consequently the said customer was welcomed at the mall with flower bouquets from the top management,” he said. This shows how a single complaint from a customer moves Ezdan Mall’s whole managerial machine; lock, stock and barrel!

Having green fingers: not only in the sense that all his planted business-ventures grew amazingly but he is also good at making plants grow. After doing successful jobs in Saudi Arabia, UAE, Pakistan and other parts of the world on top management positions, he finally settled in Doha 13 years back. Now, he, through “Green Dream 2022”, is instilling love for trees and plants into innocent hearts of school kids in particular and community in general.

“I have pinned all of my hopes on the rising generation. They are our future,” he said. He said the Ezdan Mall launched Green Dream 2022, an initiative to make Qatar greener. “We imported fruit and vegetable saplings from Switzerland for grand opening. Then we kindled love for environment and greenery in the hearts of school students.”

Ezdan Mall is engaging the community as well to ensure materialization of Green Dream 2022. With a gleam of confidence in his eyes, he claims as a nation we will be successful in planting 22 million trees by 2022. In Thomas Fuller words, action springs not from thought but from a readiness for responsibility.

Ezdan Mall not only has an indoor Wall-Garden (an attraction for all visitors) and Green Academy but also maintains a nicely-kept kitchen garden outdoors. “Different departments of the mall like the security, maintenance, facilities etc. have been assigned different patches of land in the dedicated kitchen garden area. Now our security is securi-Tree and facility as facili-Tree,” he added.

A green interruption: During the interview, Malik Qaiser Awan sought a break to have a meeting with notable Qatari environmentalist and vice president Qatar Foundation, Dr Saif Ali Al Hajari who was visiting Ezdan Mall to make the mall a partner for a new environmental initiative. The consensus was reached between two sides and GM Ezdan Mall not only assured the distinguished guest of his full support and space at Ezdan Mall but also generously announced QR0.5million as seed money for the said programme from his side. The joint initiative will come to surface soon.

Awan is a manager who leads with love and care and says he does not like rather abhor maneuvering managerial tactics like divide-and-rule, catfish-effect alike. “We have developed a system under which only sincere and competent associates can survive. Sincerity and competence is a powerful combination. I also believe in “colour-blindness” and do not weigh job applicants on grounds of nationality, religion, caste, race etc.” He thinks establishments with kiss-up-kick-down cultures could not run long. “At Ezdan Mall, lowest cadres of employees are given more respect and their opinion is always counted.”

He felt no hesitation in criticising contemporary Pakistani politicians but holds great love for his motherland in his heart. “The whole political system in Pakistan needs a perfect purging. But Pakistan as a country and its nation, judiciary and army are doing the great jobs,” he said.

With a disappointment in his tone, he said Pakistan had become a family-state. “It is my belief that Pakistan due to its nation and forces will soon emerge as a shining country in the world.” He knows not how he will translate his desire into a reality but he wants to do something for the 25 million out-of-school children of Pakistan. He has another dream for Pakistan and that is to promote the culture of entrepreneurship in the country. “Tolstoy once said ‘traveller there is no path, paths are made by travelling’. I know not how, but one day I will also make these dreams come true with the help of Allah Almighty,” said Awan.

As Lincoln once said, “he has the right to criticize, who has the heart to help”, Awan has a generous heart to help as well. “When I learnt that a number of children of Pakistani low-income expat families were unable to continue their schooling due to financial constraints, I along some other overseas Pakistanis established a fund to support them. We are supporting and will continue supporting them in future,” Awan said when asked to comment on Pakistan Education Forum, he heads.

Free of complexes (inferiority or superiority, both), Awan recalled how her mother used to struggle to bear the burden of his school fees in his childhood. “My father passed away when I was just five-year-old. Then my maternal uncle brought me to the UAE in my salad-days at the age of nine in ‘70s.”

His love for deprived and physically-challenged children is more than exemplary. He told The Peninsula that Ezdan Mall was inaugurated not by the dignitaries or celebrities rather by a group of children with special needs; by a group of physically or mentally challenged children who were accorded protocol like “The Kings”.

Responding to another question regarding Ezdan Mall’s role in promoting art and culture, Qaiser said: “As our mall like other businesses of Ezdan Holding Group is sharia compliant, we promote art living within sharia-compliant-ambit." He is member of faculty at ICSC John T. Riordan School and also speaks at international retail and shopping conferences.

5G: Awan’s recipe for success in shopping malls’ industry has five ingredients which he dubs “5G”. Great place; great mix; great people and experience; great services and great marketing and engagement. But again when talking about success of Ezdan Mall and the awards he achieved, Awan said: “My people are the reason of my success. I have employee-first policy. If you put your employees first, they will put customers first.”

A ubiquitous sense of security (ubiquitous as it is present in every resident’s mind) has made him fond of Qatar. He remembers the days of childhood spent in Gujrat (his hometown in Pakistan) but is “little nervous” of going home back. With five grown-up children, he says he is getting treatment like a family from Qatari brothers. “I feel as if I am living in my second home.”

He told The Peninsula proudly that sales per square foot of Ezdan Mall were at the highest level in the Middle East. “As per international standards if sales per square foot touch $500 per annum, it is good a sales density. In 2014-15, some brands at our mall even crossed $3000 per annum. As many as 35 brands of our mall saw the highest sales per square foot in the Middle East,” he added.

Unending journey, unmatched services: one success invites another. After making Ezdan Mall (Gharafa) a success story, now Ezdan Holding Group’s two new malls at Al Wukair and Al Wakrah are set to serve the masses. “Ezdan Mall (Al Wukair) has been opened partially and soon it will become fully functional while the dwellers of Al Wakrah neighbourhood will also soon get five-star-services, our distinction, at their doorstep within two months,” Awan said. Regarding customer-services, he has set Ritz-Carlton Hotel his bench-mark.

His future plans and his scintillating past remind one of a quote of twentieth century’s American entrepreneur, economist and business theorist Roger Babson: “The secret of success is to do more than is demanded. There is no power, no glory in doing only what we have to do. The glory comes with the second mile.”