2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003
Have you guys noticed that most if not all the self check out machines disappeared from Coops? At least the ones I visit no longer have them. I’m guessing either no one was using them or people were pretending to use them but then shoplift their items.
On the bright side, the self checkout machines at Sultan Center no longer require you to sign up to their rewards program. It’s made a huge difference for me because I can pop in and out very quickly without having to wait in any cashier line.
When I was given a tour of The Warehouse the other day, I also got a tour of the new IKEA located there. The new IKEA is nearly 25% larger than The Avenues location (26,000m² vs 21,000m²) and is considered to be one of the largest in the region. It’s really huge.
What stood out to me the most while walking around the store is how much space all the display areas had. It makes The Avenues location seem cramped even though thats not a small store by any means. One of the benefits of having a significantly larger store is the ability to showcase the complete range of products. So for example, instead of a couch being displayed in one size and two colors, they now have the space to display all the sizes and all the colors. I was walking around checking out products which I thought were new only to be told they’ve had them for years and I had just never noticed them before, or they never had the models on display. Same when we passed by the home appliances section, I had no idea IKEA had their own ovens or fridges for sale. Thats how much of a difference the new larger store makes on all their products, it allows them to really shine.
The store is split across two levels similar to The Avenues location and with the same general flow. The restaurant like everything else in the store is now much larger and features not only the standard food pickup area, but also includes a new permanent buffet section and a conveniently accessible coffee shop directly from the mall. The bakery and food market are located on the lower floor and like everything else, are also much larger.
If you want to check out the new IKEA they just opened today at The Warehouse. Their operating hours are from 9AM to 11PM daily and here is their location on Google Maps.
Yesterday I got a tour of The Warehouse mall and it was a pretty cool experience since it was very busy with the mall and businesses all getting ready for the opening tomorrow (August 16). The mall looks really great and very different to other malls which is what caught my attention the first time I visited back in May.
The Warehouse has an industrial look with lots of bricks and metal cladding everywhere. The roof is covered with a glass and steel structure that casts interesting shadows onto the floor during the day. It’s really well designed mall with a lot of creative touches, even the bathrooms are worth checking out.
Theres a large variety of stores in the mall with the main anchors being IKEA, ABYAT, LC Waikiki and LuLu Hypermarket. You also have some new restaurants opening there that aren’t available anywhere else in Kuwait yet like Jamie’s Italian and Nando’s. Regulars like Milk Bun, Shake Shack and Raising Cane’s are also opening there as well as one of my favorite coffee shops, Earth Roastery. There is also a Cinescape, Xcite, Starbucks, Zain, and a bunch of other “mall-must-haves”. There’s even an area called Auto Zone which houses a bunch of car dealerships.
If you want to pass by and check the mall out, starting tomorrow The Warehouse is going to open daily from 10AM till 10PM except on weekends where it stays open till 11PM. The mall is located in Ahmadi, right off highway 30 or 40. @thewarehousekuwait
Another day another new mall, I know we have too many already but this one at least looks visually interesting. The developer Tamdeen describes it as having a “rustic-industrial aesthetic” and it’s like a grittier or industrial-looking version of Avenues Phase III. They used lots of bricks everywhere, and the roof is covered in a steel structure that casts interesting shadows onto the floor. Plenty of daylight everywhere so it does feel like you’re walking down a street.
The largest IKEA in Kuwait and one of the biggest in the region will be opening there as well as Abyat’s second store so that’s a plus. The mall is located off Highway 40, where the old Ahmadi drive-in movie theater used to be. It’s catering to that area so the main competition is Kout Mall and Gate Mall.
They’re expecting to soft open the mall in mid-August with an official opening in September. Here is the location on Google Maps.
Jarir Bookstore is opening a new location outside The Avenues, near the Ikea and Xcite entrance of phase 1. Nothing ever survived in that corner block of The Avenues including Nandos, Johnny Rockets, and Chilis so I’m really curious to see how Jarir will end up doing. There isn’t really a large bookstore or an art and office supplies shop in Avenues, so this could potentially work.
If you’re a customer of the main Sultan Center in Salmiya you might have noticed how the upstairs area was pretty dead. Xcite and Intersport opened there a few years ago but the homeware section was pretty poor, like they stopped caring about it.
Well yesterday I found out that True Value has now taken over that department so I decided to check it out. Basically the whole top floor of Sultan Center Salmiya is divided between Xcite, Intersports, Dawa Pharmacy and True Value. True Value takes up majority of the space and covers all the homeware items with a very tiny hardware section.
It’s a pretty good idea and great for shoppers, but mostly because they’ve restocked the area and its packed with stuff now instead of it looking abandoned.
Sirdab is a new local online store that just launched yesterday that sells furniture that’s second-hand, antique, vintage, or handmade. Even though they launched yesterday their store has a ton of items for sale already including chairs, tables, lamps rugs, and various accessories. The website is also surprisingly good, it’s fast, easy to navigate, and easy to sort.
Delivery starts a 2KD for small items and goes up to 10KD for the larger stuff. If you want to check them out their Instagram is @shop.sirdab and their website is shopsirdab.com
I just noticed Xcite have updated their website with a new design and it’s super fast. The design itself isn’t that special but the speed of navigation is. Check it out xcite.com
One thing I did find weird is navigating through the drop-down menu requires clicking and not hovering to open up sub-menus. Seems very old school.
The Best Electronics website seems will also be getting an update but in the meantime have strangely shut down the whole website to do so. best.com.kw
Update: A reader highlighted a major flaw with the Xcite website which is the fact you can’t open products in separate tabs. Hopefully, that’s something they’re planning to fix because it’s a major navigation flaw the way it is now.
Update2: Looks like they heard us, products can now be opened in new tabs!
Last year I posted about Flora, a hidden wholesale florist in Salmiya that I used to get my flowers from. Tahani is another similar wholesale florist but since I found out about it, it’s become my new go-to flower shop.
Tahani Flowers have multiple locations but I’ve only been to the ones in Salmiya and Hawally. The Salmiya one is larger and has a bigger variety so that’s the one I frequent the most. The store is located in the basement of a building on the same street as Jothen Cosmetics, Barakat, and Tibawi Sweets. The store is divided into two areas, the large main area is where you’ll find pots, plant accessories, dried flowers, and some plants and flowers like Orchids. But, the most important area is their extremely large walk-in fridge.
The fridge is where all the fresh flowers are displayed and is divided into two large sections with a corridor connecting the two areas. The fridge is filled to the brim with flowers, from popular and common, to rarer and harder-to-find ones. Since they’re wholesalers, the prices of the flowers are cheaper than anywhere else and their collection is the largest I’ve seen so far in Kuwait (if you know a place with a larger collection let me know!).
Here is the location on Google Maps, and they’re also on Instagram @tahaniflowersalmiya
Urban Outfitters, the lifestyle retailer opened its first store in Kuwait at The Avenue this past weekend. I passed by to check out my favorite section which is the lifestyle area that usually has vinyl records, film cameras, and various books but they didn’t have any of that here instead they had just homeware items. My guess is that wasn’t really in their control.
Pricewise we are pretty similar to the Dubai store prices if not exactly the same, but we’re around 7-10% more expensive than the stores in Europe (the tags all have the Euro prices on them to compare).
Urban Outfitters is located in Avenues Phase II, between Dean & Deluca and Baroue.
Heineken’s 0.0 non-alcoholic beer is now available in Kuwait and Sultan Center has them for sale. I love the way the cases look stacked up because for just a second, it helps you visualize what a supermarket in Kuwait would look like if alcohol was actually legal. The price for a 6-pack is KD3.9 or 650 fils per bottle.
Alo Yoga, the Los Angeles-based premium lifestyle/yoga brand is opening at The Avenues this coming Wednesday afternoon. It will be their first store in Kuwait and it’s going to be located next to the Mercedes showroom in the Grand Plaza.
To stay posted on the launch or to check out pictures from their event this past weekend, check them out on Instagram @alo.me
Singarea, the popular Asian supermarket has officially opened their new location in Salmiya. This is their third location in Kuwait, the other two being in Shuwaikh and Mahboula.
The new location is around the lake in Boulevard Park, right next to the restaurant Izmir. When I dropped by they were still unpacking some boxes but the space was looking good although didn’t seem as big as their Shuwaikh location, neither did it have as many freezers and fridges will all those food items.
Their Salmiya branch is open daily from 10AM to 10PM and if you want to pass by and check it out, here is the location on Google Maps. Just a note, at the time of this post there was no signage outside but just head to Izmir and it’s the building right next to it.
Honest Grocer is a new local grocery store that sells only healthy food products. That’s not really new in Kuwait but what sets Honest Grocer apart from the competition is the fact that their selection of products is curated using their stringent nutritional and ethical guidelines. These guidelines include:
Navigating their different products is really simple on their website since their interface is very basic. So for example, if you’re looking for keto products or products that are sugar-free, you can get access to them easily from the main page with just a click. They’re also located on Deliveroo which makes ordering from them easy although their products are only categorized by brand on that platform.
The only downside like everything healthy is the price. Because you’re getting the best quality ingredients you’re going to have to pay for it and that can mean 5KD for a chocolate spread or 600fils for a bag of chips. They sent over goodies to my office and the first thing we did was replace all the unhealthy snacks we had in our pantry with their products. Now I just need to convince the accountant why he needs to increase our pantry budget so we can continue to stock up on these healthier but more expensive snacks.
If you can afford it, then definitely check out Honest Grocer either on Deliveroo or their website myhonestgrocer.com
Back in March, I posted about a local shop called Onebase that sold weighted blankets. Not a lot of people managed to grab one before they sold out but I noticed last night that they were back in stock.
Weighted blankets are considered to be therapeutic and can benefit people with anxiety, autism, and insomnia. Some people find sleeping with a weighted blanket very calming like they’re being hugged.
If you want to check out the weighted blankets at Onebase, click here.