Khawla Ali (Dubai)
Naif Market in Dubai, or as it was called in the past, the “boxes” market, still maintains its place and importance among the popular markets. There is no doubt that the stages of its inception, development and reappearance in the dress of the past and with modern specifications contributed to its brilliance and taking its role and tasks as one of the markets that maintain its cheap prices compared to other markets, to attract visitors and tourists and carry with the people of Dubai a living memory and scenes that narrate the history of its development and the events it passed through.
open stall
Engineer Rashad Muhammad Bukhash talks about the stages of the establishment of the Naif Market located in the Deira district of Dubai, which took its name from the Naif Castle, which is located just behind it, indicating that the market in the past was an open market for everyone to display their goods.
Then it developed later, and was called the “boxes” market, as it consisted of wooden boxes stacked next to each other, narrow in size and not exceeding one by two meters, and penetrated by 5 narrow lanes.
Security and safety systems were not available at the time, as they are now available in the current markets, and this market developed later from a limited number of shops to reach about 90 wooden shops. The emergence of the “funds” market dates back to the end of the sixties of the last century.
design
Bukhash points out that the market was famous for selling clothes, women’s accessories, incense, and other goods that spread during that period. It was a destination for the people of the region to shop and buy luxuries. It is simple in its appearance and design. It opens in the early morning and closes with the onset of darkness.
The market was exposed to a major fire accident in the eighties of the last century, and damage occurred to all its parts, and everything in it turned to ashes.
rebuild
Bukhash confirms that Naif Market was not only a destination for the people of Dubai and the Emirates of the country, and customers came to it from neighboring countries such as the Sultanate of Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait, and the demand for it was due to its cheap prices. The Dubai Municipality, which is supervising it, decided to rebuild it again, but with advanced and modern specifications. Before preparing the new project for the market, a temporary market was built in 2005 to keep people visiting and shopping from it.
update
Bukhash describes the details of the modern Naif market, as it consists of two floors with international engineering specifications, and includes parking for cars at the bottom of the building, and more than 100 stores with large areas. The market was designed in the style of local traditional architecture in terms of external decorations, wooden doors, the appearance of the building from the outside, and the view of the shops on internal courtyards. All of them give a space and an outlet for visitors, as it is permeated with natural lighting.
goods
Goods vary in the market, and it includes traditional and modern clothes, electronic devices, phones, shoes, jalabiyas, fabrics, bags, leather goods and souvenirs, and many other personal necessities such as perfumes and cosmetics. With the large number of modern commercial markets spread out, Naif Market still maintains its importance as an important commercial element to attract visitors and tourists with its very reasonable prices compared to other markets.
