14 04, 2019

Gulf Coast Skate Shop

2019-04-14T09:25:56+03:00Apr 14, 2019|3 Comments

Here is a small business that isn’t a coffee shop.. a skate shop. Gulf Coast Skate Shop is a local business that is trying to support skateboarders in Kuwait. They don’t have a physical store, just an Instagram account which is fine. The only thing annoying though is they don’t have prices listed, so when you find something you like, you need to DM them for a quote which is a hassle.

If you’re a skateboarder and need boards, trucks, grip tape, wheels, etc.. then check them out @gulfcoastskate

25 03, 2019

Waitrose products now at City Center

2019-03-25T18:55:53+03:00Mar 25, 2019|9 Comments

Starting today, City Center is now carrying Waitrose products inside their stores. At this moment the Waitrose products are only available at their Salmiya location, but they will soon be adding them in their Dasma and Shuwaikh stores soon.

Currently, only around 30-40% of their total shipment has arrived, with the rest of the Waitrose products expected to be in store in around a months time.

This isn’t the first time Waitrose products have been made available in Kuwait, around 5 years ago Sultan Center started carrying Waitrose products as well. The biggest difference this time around is that City Center have segregated the Waitrose products into their own section which makes it easier to find stuff.

20 03, 2019

7-Eleven now… Eleven

2019-03-20T12:28:16+03:00Mar 20, 2019|18 Comments

Last year 7-Eleven opened their first location in Kuwait, but I passed by it recently and it looks like they’ve rebranded to just Eleven. I guess they either lost the franchise or were never official and so were forced to rename the place. Awkward.

13 03, 2019

Where to buy telescopes in Kuwait?

2019-03-13T09:24:04+03:00Mar 13, 2019|4 Comments

Around a decade ago, maybe more, there used to be a store in Muthana Complex that used to just sell telescopes. That store closed down ages ago and after that, the only other place I knew of that sold good telescopes was Xcite in Avenues. But, they no longer seem to carry them anymore so right now if you’re looking for a telescope, your best option is the Abdullah Al Salem Cultural Centre (ASCC).

Inside the space museum at ASCC there is a gift shop that sells Celestron brand of telescopes. Below are the models I spotted along with their prices and a comparison to Amazon.

Celestron AstroMaster 70 EQ
Amazon: KD40
ASCC: KD50

Celestron AstroMaster 90 EQ
Amazon: KD67
ASCC: KD80

Celestron AstroMaster 114 EQ
Amazon: KD55
ASCC: KD80

Celestron Ultima 65
Amazon: KD40
ASCC: KD70

The pricing seems pretty decent on most of them especially when you consider the Amazon prices I’ve listed don’t include any taxes or shipping costs. So if you’re looking for a telescope, you should head to the space museum gift shop.

5 03, 2019

Level-Up Online Video Game Store

2019-03-05T09:34:32+03:00Mar 5, 2019|31 Comments

When it comes to purchasing video games online locally, my two go-to places are usually GamesQ8 and Alfuhod. They tend to offer prices similar to what you’d find at Rihab Complex, and so are a good alternative to me going there. But, recently another online store popped up called Level-Up that’s run by gamers and has pretty competitive prices. I checked out a few different games and I found that they were usually always cheaper than Alfuhod and sometimes cheaper than GamesQ8. Here are some random examples:

Anthem (PS4 R2)
Level-Up: KD17.5
GamesQ8: KD18
Alfuhod: KD18.5

Resident Evil 2 (Xbox One R2)
Level-Up: KD15.5
GamesQ8: KD15
Alfuhod: KD18.5

Jump Force (PS4 R2)
Level-Up: KD13.9
GamesQ8: KD15
Alfuhod: KD15.9

Super Mario Bros.u Deluxe (Switch)
Level-Up: KD18.5
GamesQ8: KD16.5
Alfuhod: KD19.5

The one thing to keep in mind though is if you want same day delivery, Level-Up charge KD2.5, but offer free next day delivery. Alfuhod, on the other hand, offers free same day delivery while GamesQ8 charge KD1.

So although Level-Up aren’t always the cheapest, they could be which is why they’re worth checking the next time you want to buy a game online. Here is the link to their [Website]

3 02, 2019

IKEA Kuwait Launches its Online Store

2019-02-03T08:58:06+03:00Feb 3, 2019|7 Comments

Over the weekend I found out that the IKEA Kuwait website now allows you to purchase items online. Previously you could only flip through their catalog but now you can actually purchase the items you’re interested in and have them delivered to your home. Delivery cost is a fixed KD10 fee no matter what you buy and if you want assembly, that’s another KD10.

I actually enjoy physically shopping at IKEA, but I know a lot of people who’d rather not have to deal with the chaos of IKEA on a weekend. I actually think Kuwait has outgrown the current IKEA and they really should open a second location or build a larger one. On one of my LA trips I passed by the IKEA there to check out because I read it was the largest IKEA in America, oh my god it was so insanely huge. To give you an idea of how huge, the IKEA in Kuwait is around 5,000sqm while the one in LA is around 42,000sqm. Even the IKEA in Bahrain is huge compared to Kuwait at 37,000 sqm.

Anyway, check out the IKEA Kuwait website [Here]

Thanks Farah!

8 10, 2018

Where to find S’well Bottles in Kuwait

2018-10-08T11:02:33+03:00Oct 8, 2018|41 Comments

Recently I decided to get a S’well bottle to keep in my car since I have a habit of collecting water bottles which clutter up the interior. By having a S’well bottle permanently in the car, I could just keep refilling it from the water bottles I collect throughout the day and then just throw away the empty bottles.

I decided to go with S’well because of the multiple color and design options they have, but the only place in Kuwait that seems to sell them is Paper & Nest in KIPCO Tower.

They’ve got a pretty good selection of bottles to choose from and their prices are pretty similar to US prices. For example, my bottle cost me KD12 while the same one on Amazon sells for around KD11. They also have most of the bottles available on their website so if you don’t feel like going to KIPCO, you can just order it online. If you’re looking to get a S’well bottle, here is a link to Paper & Nest’s [Website]

25 09, 2018

Pelican Cases and Vintage Stuff at FITCO Systems

2018-09-25T12:03:31+03:00Sep 25, 2018|19 Comments

I’m thinking about getting a Pelican case for my camera gear and so the first place I checked was at Al-Sabih. But, not only did they not have the sizes I was looking for, what they did have was expensive, like double Amazon prices expensive. For example:

Pelican 1520 Case with Foam
Al-Sabih = KD73
Amazon = KD34

Then I remembered someone once mentioned a store called FITCO Systems once that also sold Pelican cases. So I googled FITCO and found pictures of what looked like a stationary store / hardware store / electronics store. I asked the guys in one of my WhatsApp groups about the store and a friend told me its a very weird place, so weird that he couldn’t explain what the store sold and that I had to go see it for myself.

FITCO Systems is located in Kuwait City right next to Tatami and behind Solo Pizza. When I first walked in I asked about Pelican cases and they have them. Their prices were also pretty reasonable:

Pelican 1400 Case with Foam
FITCO = KD32
Amazon = KD30

Pelican 1500 Case with Foam
FITCO = KD48
Amazon = KD43

Pelican 1600 Case with Foam
FITCO = KD65
Amazon = KD48

Anyway here is the interesting part. I started walking around the store to see what they sold exactly and they had so much random stuff all over the place. The store has been around since 1986 and I think they deal with businesses and wholesale (B2B) more than with consumers. So the store isn’t really in tip-top condition which is why I kept digging up so much vintage stuff.

The store has a ton of items still on the shelves from when they had opened back in 1986, items that are no longer useful but they’re still selling. The place is like a time capsule and I think I spent an hour flipping through their shelves taking photos of everything from Palm Pilot modems to storage cases for 5 1/4 Floppy Disks. They had brand new Windows 98 boxes as well as Microsoft Plus! 98. They had discontinued FujiFilm FP-100C instant film, old Nikon 35mm film scanners, a whole bunch of 8mm backup tapes and cartridges, old webcams, and just a huge amount of random items piled up everywhere. I shared a bunch of photos on my instagram story @mark248am if you want to take a look.

If you want to check the place out yourself, here is their location on [Google Maps].
They also have a website but like the store, it also looks like it hasn’t been updated since the 90s [Link].