I came across this photo of the iconic Al-Salam Complex in Salmiya which I hadn’t seen before (I think). What grabbed my attention was the restaurant “Beefy” on the street corner. As a kid, I remember that corner store as a patisserie but I had heard there used to be a great pizza place before it and doubt it was called Beefy. So, my best guess is that this photo was taken in the early 70s.
I also completely seemed to have forgotten what the corner store became towards the end of its life, but the round building along with all the stores were demolished back in 2009 and turned into Al Salam Mall which is where Lulu is today.
For some interior photos of the building just before it was demolished click here.
Update: Found an ad for Beefy from @time_machine72
21 replies on “Al-Salam Complex – 1970s”
I always dreamed of living in this building. I never went in it but I imagined the rooms to be with curved walls. If I remember correctly it also had a decent size parking garage attached to it…..something the builders of Al Salam Mall did not put into their design which of course triggers my parking lot anxiety (parked there twice, it is like a bumper car game at entertainment city).
Al Salam Mall demolished that multistory parking lot after they were done constructing the mall. I never understood why, they have a major parking issue there now which they wouldn’t have had if they had kept that multistory parking.
That parking garage was always empty and never opened if i remember correctly…think it had some structural issues so was unsafe
I remember visiting a doctor at that complex in the 1990’s. The building was iconic and had character. Salam Mall, on the other hand….
I believe the corner bakery was called Panela and was open throughout the early 90’s. Towards the end it was a clothing store Bossini.
Hmmm it can’t be in the 90s or else I’d have remembered it. I remember Bossini though. I should check with my mum
I often wonder if anyone ever visits that ‘mall’ for anything else except to shop at Lulu? Like is there anything else worth going to?
Also, how can they have a ‘mall’ with that kind of disastrous parking? Imagine if people did visit for purposes other than Lulu how much worse would it be..
There have been other stores there that have come and gone for no reason, like a pharmacy closed down and there was even a Costa Coffee that lasted for like 3 months.
Are the owners of Salam Mall the same as the Al-Salam Complex?
I always felt the complex to be so iconic and unique
I remember there being a music store, al duwaliah if i’m not mistaken, on that corner. I could be wrong though
Yup, and a sports store, international optics, Samsung at one point, an old antique store. Hmm what else, my cousin used to live above al duwaliah and I had an uncle who worked in a clothing store next to it I think it was called Byblos? Not sure.
I use to live on the 3rd floor of Al Salam from ’85 till just before t hff e invasion ’90. I remember all the stores on the corner including the bakery which was next to the optics store at the time. I remember there was a boy named Mohammed who was a bit older than me (probably 14-15 at the time. He lived right above that bakery with his mom who had long blond hair and owned one of the clothing stores next to it. They had a two toned (black/gray) Chevy Caprice that he/we would drive around and around the parking for hours. Than park, than drive again. The building had an underground parking as well as ta ground level, ut we always drove the bellow one,so the hareses would not yell at us. If anybody knows where Mohammed might be or knows of him and his mom, I’d love to know.
At the time there was a black and white cat that lived in that garage under ground among others. But this poor thing had no hind legs. I fed her almost every day while we lived there for almost 5 years. This poor thing always had a litter as she could never run away…
I was 9-14 years old. I am so glad I was a le experience that country, culture and it’s people. I have such great memories!!
I used to visit the optiques there Liqqa Optiques I have a clear memory of the store.
My aunt used to own “Bint el Ishreen” بنت العشرين on Salem al Mubarak street in old souk salmiya. It was within walking distance from al salam building! The store was located right in front of Mercedes Benz dealership. Auntie was a purveyor of high end clothes and avant- grade brands imported from Paris, Milan, and Tokyo. At its heyday, it was the most exclusive and high end store in the Middle East. I used to always hang out at her store during the weekends, and sometimes after school. Oh, these were the good old days ..the place to be seen during the 70s,80,s, up until early 97 was in old souk salmiya ♥️
Oh I used to live in the Mercedes building up till 1990, now live in the building in front of it. Does your aunt have any pics of Salmiya from back then?
i am sure she does, i will ask.
I wonder how long before Kuwait Towers is demolished to make away for some cookie cuter mall. Why can’t we just use and maintain existing infrastructure?
I’m waiting for someone to propose facelifting the kuwait towers by covering it with Alucobond
Anyone else remember the giant Hershey’s Kiss? I don’t know why it was there to begin with.
Oh yeah on the corner, so random
Looks a lot like the Marina City buildings in Chicago, IL.