The Dubai Mall without its iconic ‘The’

Two photos clicked by a Dubai resident document a key change implemented at one of the most popular malls in the city.

Kenyan national Zahra Khimji posted these photos on her Instagram account. A friend of hers shared the images as an Instagram story, which, according to Zahra, went viral.

The photos show The Dubai Mall without its iconic ‘The’. Now simply called ‘Dubai Mall’, the shopping centre had dropped its ‘The’ over 14 years after it first opened to the world.

The mall had first announced its new name in January this year via a TikTok video. “New name but still your fave mall,” the shopping mall had said on TikTok.

The mall’s social media account names reflect the change, too. Though the handles retain the article ‘The’, the account names don’t. The official website of the mall also does not have the article, though its URL still does.

No reason has been specified for the name change, but #bigchanges was among the hashtags that were used in the mall’s TikTok video.

Zahra, who works at a retail store at the mall, said that she noticed the name change over the weekend. “I was waiting after work when I saw the name of the mall changed. I was pretty sure I had a photo of the mall’s name with the ‘The’. I browsed through my phone and, sure enough, I had one that I clicked during the holy month of Ramadan.”