Episode 73: Alison Rehill-Erguven the CEO of Cenomi Centers In Saudi Arabia

News 2
Written By Ally Portee

What Emaar is to Dubai, what Westfield is to London, and what Simon Property Group is to the US, Cenomi Centers is to Saudi Arabia. Alison brings over 25 years of extensive leadership experience across shopping malls and retail real estate globally. Her role is to bring strategic growth and transformation to Cenomi Centers' portfolio, which reaches over 80% of the Saudi population. Alison is leading the way for malls to be more than just malls in the kingdom, to be called “contemporary lifestyle centers” rather than malls with refined dining, better building materials used, a higher spec on design, internationally IP led entertainment, VIP lounges, personal shopping, and valet drop offs. To do this, she oversees development, operations, marketing, and asset management functions.

In this episode, Alison explains:

  • The first thing she notices and looks for when walking into a mall

  • The uniqueness of the Saudi consumer.

  • The character trait that’s needed to be the CEO of a mall developer.

Ally Portee

Starting out in the world of politics, Ally interned and worked in Washington, DC, in Congress, at The White House, and on political campaigns. Today she’s in a totally different arena: fashion. Developing an eye for sartorial craftsmanship, Ally has learned how to put intricate and detailed collections into words, while developing relationships with some of the world's most leading brands and covering Paris, Milan, and Riyadh Fashion Week shows. Ally started SEELE in 2012. Seele [ze-le] is the German word for Soul and its aim is to encourage people with faith-inspired and lifestyle content that stir the soul. Ally has written for Forbes, Harper’s Bazaar, The Hollywood Reporter, GQ Middle East, Vogue Arabia, Refinery29, NPR, Arabian Business, and Euronews.

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