The Salam department store really is one of the best department stores I have seen in a long time. Beautiful glossy floors, superb lighting, beautiful merchandise and all presented so wonderfully. The day I visited I was virtually the only person in the store which was quite an uneasy and odd feeling. I actually picked up some au de toilette and accidentally dropped the top which crashed to the floor and echoed loudly across the store. I'm not used to customer less department stores where the sales associates outnumber the customers, but this is Dubai. As I have mentioned in previous entries, people shop in a very different way here and don't simply go out and buy a pair of shoes to spend a few dirhams. When many of the clientele to these places shop they spend thousands in one go (I'm not one of those customers however) and therefore these places remain huge empty homages to consumerism most of the time. Two customers and they have a 'rush' on. However, I was drawn to this store because of the incredible window installations. Someone here knows how to present merchandise with humour, intelligence and skill. The Salam website is very glossy and their images are a dream to view. Its just such a shame that so many of these places are empty as, at least for me, watching people shop, the music and so on create an exciting atmosphere and unfortunately any sense of fun is truly missing. Still, it looks fabulous.
