Category: Shopping

The last time I posted about places that sold 3D printers was 5 years ago and since then, all the places on that list either closed down or stopped selling printers. So here is a new list:

Dimension W
Located in Promenade they have just one Formlabs printer for 1,400KD

Kuwait Institute for Training and Engineering Simulations
Creality brand of printers with prices ranging between 159KD to 2,470KD

Printa
Phrozen and Prusa Research brand of printers ranging from 199KD to 460KD

Also, here is a list of places and people that can print 3D items for you:

Alternative Solutions
Dimension W
Exfusion
Kuwait 3D Printing
Rapid Manufacturing Technology
StereoLab
Tamim (Robotics)

If there is a place missing that should be on the list, let me know in the comments.

I wasn’t planning on posting about this until I bought a watch for myself, but I don’t need another watch so I need people to go buy everything and not leave anything for me to impulse buy.

Al-Batel is an old watch store that was established back in 1959. Back then they used to carry a number of watch brands including Breitling, Heuer (before they were purchased by TAG), Nivada, and Zodiac. Incredibly, they still have unsold watches available for sale (New Old Stock) dating back to the 60s and 70s. They have some of them listed up on their website but they have more on display in their shop in Mubarakia next to AlFares (Google Maps).

If you’re into vintage watches then definitely check them out ASAP. Their prices are pretty much the same compared to online prices for used versions of these watches except the ones they have are all new. Link

If you’ve ever searched for a product on Google then you’ve most likely come across the website DesertCart. It’s an online store that will ship and deliver items to you from around the world, think of it like if Amazon and Shop&Ship merged together because that’s what DesertCart is. DesertCart’s catalog is composed of items from various other websites but with the added convenience of being able to ship the items directly to you.

I haven’t had a reason to ever use them, I just order my stuff directly from Amazon to Kuwait or have items shipped to my Shop&Ship mailbox. But, a couple of weeks ago, I ordered a Dewalt Cordless Tire Inflator from Amazon. It’s really the best cordless inflator you can buy and my friend has one which we use at the race track. It’s super convenient and runs on batteries which you need to purchase separately since they aren’t included with it. The local Dewalt dealer sells 18V 5000mAh batteries for 35KD but I wanted to get 20V batteries which they don’t get locally. Amazon also doesn’t ship batteries directly to Kuwait nor does Shop&Ship. MyUS do ship batteries but they’re too expensive and so wouldn’t make sense with such a low-value item. So I started googling other options and I ended up finding a Dewalt 20V 4000mAh battery for sale on Desert Cart for 29.600KD plus 3KD to ship to Kuwait. So 32.600KD total and that also included customs. So I placed the order.

The battery turned out to be available in the UAE and within a couple of hours, it got sent to the DHL warehouse and prepared for shipping. I got a notice by email that the item was classified as “dangerous goods” and that it needed more handling and packaging but that they would still ship it. Due to it being classified as dangerous, shipping took a bit longer than usual since I don’t think batteries can’t be mailed on regular flights. A week later, I got the item.

Throughout the whole process, my order tracking was updated constantly, and overall my experience was pretty great and I’d order through them again, but I did run into issues:

• Originally I wanted to purchase two batteries, for me and my friend, but every time I tried to pay for the items I got a weird error regarding payment. I got in touch with their customer support through live chat which was impressive, but after trying a few things and placing the order from different browsers, we couldn’t figure out the issue. I then tried purchasing just 1 battery and the order went through. Turns out that there was only 1 battery in stock which is why my previous orders were confusing their system.

• The second issue I ran into was with my account. I have an account but no password, everytime I try to log in I need to enter a code that gets emailed to me. There doesn’t seem to be a way for me to create a password for my account and I think I have three different accounts with them all using the same email and number? I don’t know, it’s confusing because when I log in from the app on my phone, I can see my previous order. When I log in from the browser on my Macs, I can’t. Also, I verified my phone number on my MacBook but now when I logged in to DeserCart from my iMac I noticed my phone number wasn’t verified so I just verified it again. It’s really buggy.

• All my issues with them seem to be related to random strange bugs, the menu button on the iPhone app for example pulls up an empty list (see above). It’s really odd because they’ve been around for years now so how come no one has run into all these issues before?

But, as I mentioned, my experience was pretty positive since I ended up getting an item which under normal circumstances I wouldn’t be able to get. Even talking to their customer support was a positive experience. I’m still not sure what I’d use DesertCart for again since I don’t need any more batteries, but what’s going to happen from now on is that anytime I want to order anything online, I’m going to check and compare the cost to DesertCart. I just really hope they work out all their kinks. Check them out at desertcart.com.kw

Have you tried them before? Did you face any issues?

Bin Nisf which is probably one of the most popular and largest hardware stores in Kuwait have now officially launched their website. Previously they had a website but you could only search for items but not order from it. As of yesterday, the website is now fully functional although I did run into a few annoyances so if anyone from Bin Nisf is reading this, here are my comments:

• Website looks like it was designed in 1998
• When searching for an item you can’t tell if it’s available or sold out until you click on the item
• While browsing for products by brand, you have brands listed even though you don’t carry any items by them

That’s pretty much it so far. If you want to check out their website it’s binnisf.com. Shipping is 2KD if the value of your items are under 30KD and free if the value is over 30KD.

Barmaee is a new outdoor sports shop that opened up recently. I found out about it by chance since it’s near my garage where I’m getting my Datsun restored and I kept noticing kayaks and paddleboards through the display window so I decided to stop and check the place out.

The store is fairly cute and clearly being run by someone who’s an outdoorsman but the physical store really is just a small display area, their real store is online where they carry so many great brands including YETI, Thule, Marmon, Osprey, Salomon, Black Diamond, Shimano, and many many more. It’s actually pretty insane how much cool stuff they have on their website. They describe themselves as the Middle East’s largest outdoors store and I believe their website could very well be that since I haven’t come across anything like it in the region. (UPDATE: Turns out it’s not true! Read the update below)

The only confusing part is that their physical store is called Barmaee while their online shop is called Just Outdoors. I don’t know why that is, maybe because the physical store doesn’t carry many items but it just confuses things.

If you’re looking for outdoor gear definitely check these guys out. Their instagram accounts are @barmaee.q8 and @justoudoorscom, while the website is justoutdoors.com

Update: So it looks like the whole thing is misleading and not true. They aren’t the largest outdoor store in the region because they don’t have any of the items listed on their website. Their website is just an affiliate store for a US website so everything needs to be shipped from the US store to Kuwait. It’s similar to websites like uBuy and Desertcart which are just affiliate stores for Amazon. Disappointing.

A few weeks ago I decided to finally upgrade my toolbox with a proper set of tools. Over the years I’ve been buying tools as I needed them and that has resulted in a bag full of random brands, missing pieces, and duplicate items. Since I use my tools a lot because of my cars, I decided to reboot my toolbox and put together a nice set of some great brands and great tools.

There are two very popular hardware stores in Kuwait, Ace Hardware and Bin Nisf, but there are a ton of other smaller or more specialized stores in Kuwait which is mainly why I wanted to put this list together. There isn’t one store that carries everything so if you want to build a kit with the best of different brands you’re going to have to visit different locations. Below is a list of my favorite places that carry some great brands, most of them are only available in the stores they’re listed under. I’ll only be listing the brands I think are worth mentioning, for example, Bin Nisf carries a lot of brands but not many quality ones. Also, some brands like Bosch, Dewalt, Stanley, Makita, etc are sold in all hardware stores so I haven’t mentioned those as well. Check out the places below:

Last month I posted about a restaurant in Avenues that accept cryptocurrency as payment and now there are two more shops that accept crypto.

Outwest: The local lifestyle shop now accepts Bitcoin as payment

VI BY VOGULARITY: The local fashion label now accepts Bitcoin, Dogecoin and Ethereum as payment

Better Books: They have over 10,000 books including some really old ones and they accept Bitcoin as payment.

If you know of any other local shops that accept crypto let me know in the comments.

Negochi is already known for being the largest hunting store in Kuwait but over the years they have slowly been growing their collection of knives with the aim of becoming the largest knife retailer in the region. Their store in Dajeej has two floors with knives on display and it’s going to get even bigger once their new shipment arrives in the coming weeks.

They carry a ton of knife brands including:
Boker
BYRD
Cold Steel
CRKT
Fox
Hazen
KA-Bar
M Tech
Schrade
Smith & Wesson
SOG
Spyderco
TAC-Force
Timberline
USMC
Volcan
Z Hunter

They have hundreds and hundreds of knives on display and you really need to see it to believe it. Their top floor which is dedicated to just knives feels like a museum. If you’re interested in knives you probably already know about Negochi but if you’re looking for an interesting cool place to pass by and check out, here is their location on Google Maps. They’re also on instagram @negotchi.knives

The popular Australian skincare brand Aesop is now available in Kuwait at Bloomingdales. For some reason, up until now the only way to get Aesop products was to order it from the UK or US even though Bloomingdales in Dubai carried the brand.

The only downside is the products aren’t available at the Bloomingdale location in 360 Mall yet, only on their local website. But the items are in Kuwait I believe since they offer same-day delivery on them and delivery is for free. The prices of the products all seem to be standard Aesop retail pricing as well. To see all the available Aesop products available to order in Kuwait, click here.

If you’ve ever researched stainless steel flasks or mugs then you’ve most likely come across the Zojirushi brand. They usually top the best vacuum insulated mugs list and their most popular model has over 22,000 ratings and 5 stars on Amazon. I have one and love it, it keeps my coffee hot for hours when I’m on the go and it’s super easy to take apart and clean. I’ve even ordered them for friends because they weren’t available locally but this weekend I noticed True Value now carry the brand.

Their standard and most popular flask sells for around 7.800KD on Amazon without shipping but True Value is selling them for 13.950KD which is double the price. So it’s actually cheaper if you just ordered it online where you get a much larger choice in colors, but at least you now have the option to buy them locally.

There is a new fitness store in Avenues called Befit that recently opened up and they carry a couple of cool brands including Rogue and Concept2. Concept2 rowers have been difficult to come by since the start of the pandemic and when found are usually overpriced so I was pretty surprised to see they were selling them for normal Amazon prices.

On their website, Befit have the Concept2 rower listed for KD443 (with free shipping) but in-store they have it listed for even less at KD427. The store is pretty small so they don’t have a lot of equipment on display but if you’re trying to get your hands on a Concept2 it’s worth passing by. They’re located in the corridor behind the new Adidas store that’s opening in Grand Avenues.

Layla is a new Lebanese gourmet grocery store that opened up in Salmiya opposite Marks & Spencer. They carry a lot of imported Lebanese products ranging from Bonjous and Master Chips (Lebanese equivalent to Sunkist and Kitco), to Lebanese dairy products, fruits, bread, pickles and more.

It’s actually very similar to the other Lebanese store Lama, except instead of the Lama branded products Layla carries their own brand. If you want to check the place out they’re on Instagram @laylalbkw and here is their location on Google Maps.

For people looking to get into making espresso coffee at home, the Gaggia Classic Pro machine is considered to be one of the best starter machines you can buy. It’s an affordable single boiler machine that allows you to pull an espresso shot and steam milk for your latte. Previously if you wanted a Gaggia the only option was to order it from abroad but now the brand is available locally at Xcite.

The Classic Pro machine is priced at 179KD in-store at Xcite but listed for 199KD on their website for some reason. On the Gaggia UK website, it sells for 177KD so 179KD is actually a great price for it.

So if you’re looking for a great affordable semi-automatic espresso machine you can now pick up a Gaggia in Kuwait.

Ceado grinders are pretty popular with coffee geeks especially their single-dose grinders. I didn’t know they were available locally and I have a friend actually who ordered one online and paid a ton for shipping so figured I’d put this info out there in case anyone googles “Ceado Kuwait”.

Turns out Mabrook are the dealers for Ceado in Kuwait as well as Slayer coffee machines. They had a number of Ceado grinders on display, one of them, the “E6P Filter Burrs” model had a price of KD367 on it. Online the same model sells for KD330 so the local price isn’t that far off especially if they give discounts (which they generally do).

Mabrook doesn’t have any Ceado grinders listed on their website but they do mention them a few times on their Instagram account. If you’re looking for Ceado grinders check out their showroom here.

A friend of mine is looking to get a digital camera so I suggested they check out Fujifilm. Before the pandemic, there was a Fujifilm store down the street from my place inside another store called Fisher that belonged to Boushahri Group (the Fuji dealers). I think Fisher was a brand that Boushahri had back in the 70s and they decided to revive it again since I’ve come across Fisher ads while flipping through really old newspapers. Anyway since the pandemic started the Fisher store has been closed and I think permanently.

The good news is that Fujifilm now has its own dedicated store located inside Boulevard Mall. The store has been open for around two months and they carry most if not all the Fujifilm cameras and lenses. All the cameras are also on display and you can play around with them and try them out which is great. I think we spent around half an hour yesterday trying the different cameras and we didn’t feel any pressure to buy something or to stop which was great.

If you want to check out Fujifilm cameras, the store is located in Boulevard Mall in Salmiya, on the top floor near Sultan Center. Their Instagram account is also @fujifilm_kuwait