The Lulu Centre, considered to be Doha's largest department store, is fast nearing completion and will be ready for inauguration by mid-February 2000.

Only part of the shelving work remains to be finished, said Packker Koya Ali, general manager of the department store. The decoration work alone is estimated to cost more than QR3 million ($824,175). The total project cost was not disclosed.

Three floors of the five-storeyed Lulu Center, located opposite Hamad Hospital, comprise a shopping area of 75,000 sq ft. The complex offers parking facilities for 300 cars, 150 spaces of which are in the basement level. A restaurant would be added later on the fourth floor of the building.

The Lulu Centre Trading Company is a division of the EMKE Group, one of the largest retailers in the UAE.