Category: Shopping

I prefer passing by an actual supermarket to buy my groceries but this could be an attractive solution for people who don’t have the time to physically go and shop.

There are two local online grocery stores that I know of, taw9eel.com and foodkuwait.com. Foodkuwait.com requires you to sign up and login before you can do your shopping which is really stupid. Taw9eel.com on the other hand allows you to browse their products before you decide to sign up or order.

Ansam posted a letter someone had written to Carrefour management complaining about the shopping cart rules. The person was pissed because he wasn’t allowed to push his cart through the mall. Well yeah, I kinda understand why that rule is in place. Imagine everyone roaming around Avenues with a shopping cart, it would be total chaos. But, if I understood his letter correctly, you are also not allowed to push your cart in the parking lot outside the designated Carrefour area. That I think might cause a problem since when you enter the Avenues parking during peak hours its difficult to find an empty parking spot yet a lone one thats in the Carrefour area. Anyway you can read the letter on Ansams blog. [Link]

I was showing my partner at work the blog uncrate.com when we got to the post on the Obelisk chairs (pictured above and right below). I was telling him about how cool the design was when he told me his cousin has them in her store. So during our lunch break we both headed to his cousins store called Home House which is located adjacent to the Amiri Hospital on the Gulf Road.

Right as we walked into the store which was actually an old Kuwaiti house we spotted the Obelisk right in front of us. It was exactly like the one we saw on uncrate except we didn’t expect it to be this big. We were given a tour of the place and it turns out they have some really really nice stuff. I really don’t know where to start since I literally fell in love with their brands.

I guess I will start with my favorite brand they carry which is Vange. They have some of the most beautiful industrial designs. Just flipping through their website now while writing this is giving me goose bumps. Most of the Vange stuff is by order but they had the K-Baby, the K-Bench and the MAUI console on display. I loved the K-Bench and the MAUI series of shelving is just so hot!

After the Vange we were shown some stuff by Gandia Blasco. Their stuff are mostly for patios, chalets and beaches, they reminded me a lot of the stuff I see on CSI: Miami. Their style is the very modern outdoor furniture which comes all in white, very straight edged with white drapes and they are very very sexy stuff.

Finally we were shown some lighting systems by Tobias Grau. It was another brand I hadn’t heard of before but again they have some really really slick looking lamps. So minimal and so cleanly designed. If Apple were to make lamps this is how they would come out.

I am probably going to go back there and see how much the MAUI console and the K-Bench cost since I would love to have them in my place. I didn’t ask their prices while I was there for some reason so I don’t know how much they cost. The Obelisk costs around KD1,600 which although isn’t cheap, its still cheaper then in the US where they sell for $8,500.

If you want to pass by the place its very easy to find. If you take the right after the Amiri hospital you will find that the first house on the left is called Bait Al Cedra. They are located right inside Bait Al Cedra. Its right next to the Karizma gallery. You can call them on 253 0358 in case you get lost or visit their website www.homehouse.be

Here are the websites to the brands:
Vange
Gandia Blasco
Tobias Grau

update: I made a mistake. The store is called Home House not Bait Al Cedra. Bait Al Cedra is the name of the old house where Home House is located. I just edited the post above to reflect this.

In the article below on online shopping one store that was mentioned was called Noutique. I think Noutique has a MAJOR flaw which is the fact that you have to create and account and log in BEFORE you can even see what they have available for sale!

Who is going to bother going through that hassle just so they can check out what they have for sale?

Sumayyah Meehan wrote the following article on online shopping for a local magazine but since the article advertises websites that don’t have ad accounts with the magazine, the story wasn’t published. Since its a good article I asked her if I could publish it here and she was fine with it. Here it is:

‘Cyber Shopping in Kuwait’

As anyone who has tried to order merchandise from online ‘cyber stores’ knows it can be a harrowing experience. It can be a total waste of time in that you surf for a couple of hours tracking down that gorgeous shirt or that must have DVD only to find out that they don’t ship to Kuwait. Or else you find someone who does ship to Kuwait and when your package arrives it is either not what you expected or damaged. No more. Just because you want to buy something online does not mean that you have to cross into another country’s cyber ‘border’ to get it. There are plenty of digital pioneers right here in Kuwait and they are armed with the most cutting edge and interactive online stores around. Are you ready to take shopping in Kuwait to a higher level? Get out your charge card, or even your Knet card, and get ready to do some delectable damage at some of these cyber stores based in Kuwait:

Click N Buy – It takes a team of 9 people to keep up with the orders at Kuwait’s online IT store ‘Click N Buy’ (www.clicknbuy.com.kw). According to Manager Rajesh Chander Singh, “Having an online business is easier in terms of running, but it requires a lot of work in the backend.” Click N Buy is almost exclusively an IT company. They sell different brands of desktop computers, laptops, printers, scanners, iPods and accessories. They have additional items that are not IT based which include contact lenses, mobile phones and water purifier systems. “We have been open for a year and are still a new company,” offers Singh, “we sell exclusively to people living in Kuwait and average about 10,000 hits a month.” In an attempt to keep customers interested Click N Buy plans to offer several more items in the future such as watches, perfumes and handbags. They also plan to extend their ‘cyber-dom’ to include other GCC States. In addition to the cyber store they are taking on a new venture which is a website that will help users create their own sleek website in 10 minutes flat! So, keep an eye out for www.w3monster.com. Click N Buy accepts major credit cards as well as Knet. And they boast the lowest prices for IT products and services anywhere in Kuwait. Delivery is free for orders with a minimum balance of 10KD. And you can expect to receive your purchase within 24 hours of ordering! They also accept trade-ins for old laptops and offer IT rentals. And as if it could get any better there is even a discussion forum for customers!

Banana Republic opened up Friday evening and Kuwait-Style has a post about the place with some pictures. Check it out. [Link]

The Forum on this blog has a “For Sale” section where users place items they want to sell and other users in the forum can bid on them. There have been a lot of good deals in the forum recently for example, a nearly new Xbox 360 with 13 games, extra pads, and even an extra hard drive got sold for KD200, I personally purchased an excellent condition Apple G4 iBook for KD90, and just a while ago someone sold their 1 month old 4GB iPod nano for just KD30.

If you haven’t checked out the forum yet you should. Its a great place to meet people and there are a ton of things for sale there. Here is the link. [Forum]

A lot of people have iPods and a lot of people listen to them using the white earbuds that came in the box. The earbuds look pretty but really aren’t doing your music any justice since they aren’t very good. This is why I always suggest to friends to invest in a decent pair of headphones like they just invested in the mp3 player.

One brand I always suggest they give a shot is Sennheiser. They have a large variety of headphones so people are bound to find one that suits their needs. My first pair of Sennheiser’s were the PX100 which were amazing as I reviewed previously on my blog.

Anyway a friend of mine passed by aDawliah yesterday who are the dealers for Sennheiser in Kuwait and he told me they currently have a sale and their prices are now cheaper then Amazon. Not only that but the staff their were very helpful and even let him try on and listen to a variety of headphones until he found one that he liked.

So if you are still using your original Apple white earbuds or are looking to buy a new pair of headphones then now might be the best time to buy one. The easiest aDawliah branch to find is the one right across the street from Marina Mall. They are also dealers for Bose but I wouldn’t recommend them since they are over priced and don’t sound that great.

Here is a link to aDawliah’s website [Link]

Yes I know I already posted at least two different opening dates for Carrefour before but they just kept pushing back the opening dates. Now according to a user (Rocker) in the forum the new launch date is this Tuesday.

update: Here is a picture of their full page teaser ad from the Arab Times. [Pic]

Toilet paper found at Sultan Center. Not as funny as Ass Sizes but still funny.

I was in Marina Mall yesterday when I noticed that Mac&More surprisingly have the Apple TV in stock. They are selling it for KD129 which is around $140 more expensive then on Amazon.

Q80Boy sent me an email telling me that last night at 9:30PM, Virgin in Marina Mall was shutdown because they were caught selling inappropriate movies. Can anyone confirm this? It’s confirmed!

update: I just got back from Marina Mall and Virgin is closed. There are red stickers all around the place and two A4 photocopies of the closing order which you can view [Here] and [Here]

I posted about two websites before that sold pirated DVD’s online but here is a new one. Its called Q8 DVDs and they are selling movies for KD1.5 and delivery is free if your total is over KD5. [Link]

Thanks xnax2

I just want to introduce my new sponsor to replace Mercedes called Q8Flowers. You might remember them because I posted about them back in November. I had ordered flowers for Nataly from them since they were the only flower shop in Kuwait where I could place an order and pay for it online. If you haven’t checked them out you can do so by visiting their website located at www.q8flowers.com

Just got back from The Avenues and its pretty big. The place looks cooler then Marina Mall and I counted at least 5 Starbucks, 2 Boots, 2 H&M’s and 2 The Body Shops. A lot of stores are still closed but its still worth a visit.