Category: Shopping

The watch store “Write.Time” at The Avenues are now the official dealers for Nixon watches in Kuwait. Problem is they’re selling the watches for nearly double the price they sell for on Amazon. For example the Time Teller P series watches similar to the pink and blue one above cost around KD14 on Amazon while they’re selling them for KD28 in Kuwait. The Rubber Player series similar to the green, blue and black watches on the bottom left of the picture below sell for around KD38 on Amazon but KD72 in Kuwait. So the good news is we now have Nixon watches in Kuwait, the bad news is they’re over priced.

There is a shop next to my office that has a discount on everything including Maglite flashlights. They’re selling the 3-D cell version for KD6.250 which is nearly the same price as Amazon and the cheapest I’ve seen in Kuwait. The place is located right next to the NBK branch on Fahad Al Salem Street, opposite the park.

I saw the camera above on Gizmodo today. It’s a digital camera that’s waterproof and costs just KD10. Seems like the perfect thing to take to the chalet on weekends and it won’t cost you an arm and a leg. It’s a 1.3MP camera which doesn’t sound like much but it’s more than you need for Facebook or posting on a blog. It also shoots video but from what I read the quality isn’t that great. In case you drop it the camera floats on the water which is pretty cool as well.

Anyway here is the link to the camera on [Amazon]

Update: My friend just told me he got the Kodak camera above from Amazon for KD18. It’s 12MP and looks a lot cooler than the KD10 camera I originally posted. It also comes in 3 colors. Here it is on [Amazon]

[YouTube]

I had been using the WaterField ultimate sleeve case ever since I got it in May of last year and it’s been really great. Only issue I had with it is that it was sometimes to bulky to fit into my smaller messenger bag and Nat couldn’t fit it into her purse unless the purse was also pretty big. So I looked for a thinner case I could use on occasions I didn’t need as much protection and decided to go with WaterField again. They had a model called the suede jacket (video above) which is extremely thin and just allows you to protect the iPad from scratches it might get being carried around freely in your bag or purse. I’ve been using it for awhile now and I love it as well. The material of the sleeve actually cleans your iPad as you pull it in or out which is a great way to get rid of all the smudges. Price wise it’s not that expensive at $19 but when you add shipping and then Aramex’s fee to ship to Kuwait it does become a bit over priced. It’s still a great buy for someone looking for something as unobtrusive as this. [Link]

I was at Al Bader Stationary randomly walking around when I noticed some amazingly designed Lyra brand coloring pencils called ColorStripe. I know it sounds strange.. what the hell is an amazingly designed coloring pencil? Well that’s what I thought was the best part about it, someone actually decided to redesign the coloring pencil as we know it and did such an incredible job the coloring pencils won a gold in the iF product design awards as well as a reddot design award for best of the best. These are simple coloring pencils we’re talking about here.

They look like no other pencil I had ever seen before and that’s probably because these are how coloring pencils would look like in the future except they’re here right now. I of course picked up a box right away along with a matching sharpener. Not sure what I am going to do with them but I just couldn’t resist not getting them, if anything just to say thank you to Lyra for creating something so beautiful. The box of 8 coloring pencils cost me KD2.750 while the sharpener cost me 900fils. [Link]

I was passing through Zahra Complex the other day and noticed a bunch of No Smoking signs. Not sure if they smoking ban is being enforced but at least they sound serious about it.

Aramex Shop & Ship have now set up Chinese mailboxes for all their customers which sounds great but what exactly can we get from China and where do we order it from?

The first thing that comes into my mind is buying stuff from Hong Kong sellers on eBay. A lot of times when I am looking for Tamiya parts and cars on eBay, the sellers with the good stuff are based in Hong Kong. Another thing I can think of but still hobby related is websites like HobbyKing.com who have most of their stock based in Hong Kong as well. You can now order stuff from there HongKong warehouse and have them ship the items by EMS to your Chinese mailbox.

Does anyone have any other ideas? Did you know there is a Chinese Amazon?

Note: If the Chinese mailbox hasn’t shown up in your shopandship.com page be patient, they’re currently in the process of generating accounts for all their clients in all 26 Shop & Ship countries.

Just an FYI to anyone planning to order the iPad Arcade Cabinet from Think Geek. Mine shipped a few days ago and according to UPS it weighs over 10lb’s, that means it’s going to cost around KD30 to ship from New York using Aramex! So just a warning to anyone planning on getting it, the thing is really heavy. [Link]

I just found out we have a KitchenAid dealer in Kuwait. I never knew there was one locally since I never saw their products in any store but it seems that’s because in Kuwait they cater mostly to businesses. KitchenAid is an extremely popular brand for kitchen mixers which are used a lot in cooking shows. According to the dealer the mixer costs KD130 after discount which when compared to the KD75 selling price on Amazon… it’s nearly double. But ordering from Amazon isn’t an option since it’s pretty heavy and you have the voltage difference.

The KitchenAid dealer turned out to be the Blendtec dealer as well. Blendtec is a very popular blender and they’re the same ones used on the website Will It Blend? in which they try to blend random everyday objects.The prices of the Blendtec blenders start at KD370 which is more than double the prices on Amazon. Ouch!

In any case if you’re interested to know, the dealer is called Mabrook and their phone number is 24818242

Someone from the Herman Miller dealer in Kuwait left a comment under my old post on the Herman Miller Aeron chairs (picture above). When I had checked the price of the chair back in February 2008 they were selling it for KD420. Now though it seems they have an offer till the end of May and they’re selling the chair for just KD270. They’re like 3 years late since I already bought a different chair back then but if you guys are interested you can call Mr Sherif on 1834222 ext 405.

For all my hardware needs I usually pass by Ace Hardware since their location is convenient and there’s always a lot of parking. But the hardware section at Ace is pretty small and there are a lot of things I either can’t find or if I do find they just don’t have enough variety. That’s where Bin Nisf comes in.

Bin Nisf is located in Shuwaikh in the street behind where the old IKEA used to be located. I believe it’s the largest hardware store in Kuwait. The place is HUGE. They have everything from screw drivers to car jacks to construction boots. There isn’t anything really they don’t have and the best part is the fact they carry a number of brands. This means if you find an item lets say a drill, you’re not just stuck with that one brand but you can actually compare it to other drills from different brands.

Price wise they’re similar to the rest of the market but unlike the smaller hardware shops on the same street the prices at Bin Nisf are usually fixed unless it’s something that costs over KD25 and then there “might” be room for negotiation depending on what you’re getting. The biggest disadvantage they have is location. There barely is any parking around them and don’t even think about going there in the middle of the week since it’s traffic hell. But, you could do what I do which is park on the same street where A2Z and True Values are located and then just walk 5 minutes to Bin Nisf or pass by on Saturdays. For contact information and a map check out the very outdated Bin Nisf website [Here]

According to the latest report by CB Richard Ellis “How global is the business of retail?”, Kuwait City ranked 13th in the world the list of most targeted retail destination, up one place from 14th last year. Dubai and London tied for first place followed by New York in second and Paris third. 13th place is actually incredibly good (we tied with Berlin and Istanbul) since the 12 countries ahead of us are big shots like LA, Moscow, Hong Kong, Barcelona, Berlin etc. plus we beat out cities like Milan, Munich, Tokyo and Miami. Below is the top 20 list:

1 – Dubai
1- London
3- New York
4- Paris
5- Madrid
6- Hong Kong
7- Moscow
8- Los Angeles
9- Singapore
10- Barcelona
11- Beijing
12- Shanghai
13- Berlin
13- Kuwait City
13- Istanbul
16- Riyad
17- Milan
18- Munich
19- Tokyo
20- Las Vegas
20- Miami
20- Hamburg

You can download the full report from the CBRE website [Here]

Now slightly off topic, they represented Kuwait with two visuals in the icon above, one is a stretched out version of Kuwait Towers, but what is the other? Looks like our very own Taj Mahal maybe.

Ok so maybe it’s not such a slow day after all. I just found out a few minutes ago that the UK giant supermarket chain Tesco is coming to Kuwait. Can you figure out who’s bringing them? If you guessed Alshaya then you’re right! No location or launch date set or at least my source isn’t aware of them as of now. Will post more information when I find out. Last time I posted about Tesco was back in 2007. I was in London and got to experience their self checkout machines which I thought were pretty cool. You could read about my experience [Here]

I was at Geant in 360 Mall and noticed they’re now carrying the brand Dyson. Dyson make some of the most beautifully designed products and I’ve always wondered why no one had brought them to Kuwait. I didn’t spot many products, just two actually but hopefully they will be getting more. I spotted the Dyson 10″ Desk Fan (pictured above) and it was selling for KD93 (costs KD82 on Amazon). I also saw the Dyson DC19 Vacuum Cleaner (pictured below) and it was selling for KD114.

I found out about the website Local Tees from Me Blogging. What I understood from her is that you send them your designs and if they like it they will print a limited run of tshirts based on it and then sell it on their website. Although she doesn’t mention it I am guessing you would also get a cut of the profits made from your tshirt design. It’s not a new idea but that doesn’t matter since it’s a good one and going by the the designs already available on their website they’re not after generic ones but after designs that relate to the local region which is the way it should be done. The photography on the site (like the one above) is also very well done and helps set a trendy tone through out.

My only issue with the website is the fact it’s flash based! Not sure who still makes a flash based website now a days but they’ve got one and there is no skip button which drove me crazy. My second issue is the fact that practically all the tshirts are white, which might be fine for others but personally I only wear dark colored tshirts so at the moment there isn’t a tshirt I could buy for myself.

You can check their website by clicking [Here]
To skip the flash site and head directly to the store click [Here]