Shola Shopping Center

Defunct shopping mall in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Shola Shopping Centerمركز الشعلة التجاري

Shola Shopping Center in the 1980s

Location| Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Coordinates| 24°40′35″N 46°43′8″E﻿ / ﻿24.67639°N 46.71889°E﻿ / 24.67639; 46.71889
Opening date| April 1984
Closing date| 22 November 2012
Developer| Bucheit Company
Owner| Prince Mishaal bin Abdul Aziz

Shola Shopping Center (Arabic: مركز الشعلة التجاري) was a shopping complex in the ad-Dubbat neighborhood of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.[1][2] Opened in 1984,[3] it was one of the oldest shopping centers in Riyadh and was known for its gold markets.[4] The complex was closed following a fire-breakout in November 2012 and was owned by Prince Mishaal bin Abdulaziz.[5][6][7] Since 2022, the complex is undergoing renovation.

## History

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### Inauguration and 1980s

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Shola Shopping Center was founded by Prince Mishaal bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, the young-half brother of King Fahd and owner of Al Shoula Group in 1984. According to The Washington Post in 1992, Prince Mishaal signed a contract worth almost $11.6 million dollars with Youngstown-based American firm Bucheit Companies in February 1981 to build a shopping complex in ad-Dhubbat neighborhood of Riyadh.[3] The project was supposed to be completed by 1983, but was delayed until April 1984 mainly due to time-taking in removal a mosque standing at the site. However, a dispute erupted between Prince Mishaal and Bernard J. Bucheit Jr over payment issues when the prince allegedly refused to pay him in order to settle an earlier dispute and detained 15 employees of Bucheit in Riyadh by withholding their exit visas, until a negotiated settlement was reached for their release.

### 1990s

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Still unpaid by Prince Mishaal, Bucheit later in the 1990s sought the intervention of U.S. Congress in the matter and approached congressmen such as Rep. James A. Traficant Jr[3] and Sen. John Glenn. Traficant even wrote to Prince Bandar bin Sultan al-Saud in 1991, then US ambassador to Saudi Arabia regarding Bucheit's case on behalf of the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct.[8][9] Bucheit's case was also previously brought to the Saudi government by three former commerce secretaries.[3] The dispute got settled when the Saudis and Bucheit reached an undisclosed settlement of $11.5 million dollars in December 1992.[10]

Shola Shopping Center was infamous for being prone to frequent raids by the mutawa,[11] the Saudi religious police. After the Gulf crisis began in 1990 and as US soldiers arrived in the country, including female troops and journalists, the mutawa increased its activity in order to contain the "so-called" Western influence in Saudi Arabia.[11] The mutawa were accused of harassing and misbehaving with the customers and visitors in the shopping complex under the pretext of enforcing Islamic norms. When Prince Mishaal took notice of it, he threatened the mutawa of grave consequences if he ever saw them patrolling nearby the complex again.[12]

### 2000s

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In 2001, Traficant was indicted on federal corruption charges for taking campaign funds for personal use. He opted to represent himself, insisting that the trial was part of a vendetta against him dating back to his 1983 trial. After a two-month federal trial, on April 11, 2002, he was convicted of 10 felony counts including bribery, racketeering, and tax evasion and was sentenced to eight years in prison.[13] In 2003, as part of the probe against Traficant, Bucheit was put under federal trial[14] for his alleged role in bribing the former member of HOR and was found guilty of illegally providing $30,000 worth of construction work to build an addition and deck at Traficant's farmhouse in 1993 in exchange for extracting $11.6 million from Prince Mishaal.[15]

Shola Shopping Center was one of the three branches of Shola chain of commercial markets in Jeddah and Dhahran.[16]

## Fire accident

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On 22 November 2012, an unexpected fire broke out in the north-east corner of the complex at 3 am (local time). The Saudi Civil Defense immediately reached the site brought the fire under control. The market suffered heavy damage in material and subsequently went defunct.[17]

Since 2022, the market is undergoing renovation.

## References

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1. ^ "المقرن: مارينا مول أحدث مركز تجاري بالدمام". www.al-jazirah.com. Retrieved 2021-05-06.
2. ^ جدة, «عكاظ» ـ (2011-08-21). "وزارة الدفاع تدعو المسجلين مبدئياً لإنهاء إجراءات القبول". Okaz (in Arabic). Retrieved 2021-05-06.
3. ^ a b c d "Some Saudis won't pay, firms say". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2021-05-06.
4. ^ "Saudi Gold Rush". Saudi Gold Rush. 2012-08-19. Retrieved 2021-05-06.
5. ^ Sabri, Sharaf (2001). The House of Saud in Commerce: A Study of Royal Entrepreneurship in Saudi Arabia. New Delhi: I.S. Publications Pvt. Ltd. p. 100\. ISBN 9788190125406.
6. ^ "Fire reported at Shola Shopping Center in Riyadh". Riyadh Connect. 2012-11-22. Retrieved 2021-05-05.
7. ^ "بالصور: اندلاع حريق بمركز الشعلة بالرياض ولا إصابات". اخبار 24 (in Arabic). 22 November 2012. Retrieved 2021-05-05.
8. ^ In the Matter of Representative James A. Traficant, Jr: Report of the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct. U.S. Government Printing Office. 2002. ISBN 978-0-16-051159-2.
9. ^ United States Congressional Serial Set, Serial No. 14790, House Report No. 594, in the Matter of James A. Traficant, Jr., V. 6. Government Printing Office.
10. ^ Meade, Patricia (2003-04-25). "Invoice was real, expert says". vindyarchives.com. Retrieved 2021-11-29.
11. ^ a b "RELIGIOUS POLICE PREVAIL DESPITE NEW TEMPTATIONS". Chicago Tribune. 30 April 1991. Retrieved 2021-11-29.
12. ^ Raphael, Joy (2009). Mutawas: Saudi Arabia's Dreaded Religious Police. Zen Publications. p. 22\. ISBN 9788188071531.
13. ^ "CNN.com - Traficant arrives at federal prison - August 6, 2002". CNN. Retrieved 2021-11-29.
14. ^ "Businessman on Trial in Traficant Probe". apnews.com. 2003-04-23. Retrieved 2021-11-29.
15. ^ Milicia, Joe (2003-04-30). "Contractor Convicted of Bribing Traficant". The Edwardsville Intelligencer. Retrieved 2021-11-29.
16. ^ "وفاة الأمير مشعل بن عبدالعزيز والصلاة عليه بالمسجد الحرام". Al Watan (Saudi Arabia). 4 May 2017. Retrieved 2021-05-07.
17. ^ "اندلاع حريق في مركز تجاري لأمير سعودي بارز". Arabian Business. Retrieved 2021-05-07.