A reader emailed me the flyer above, I’m guessing Alshaya sent it out to their employees. I am also guessing the first Alshaya store is the Mothercare branch next to my house in old Salmiya. I remember when they opened up all those stores in my street, Mothercare, BHS, The Body Shop, Oasis, Next, River Island and whatever else I might have missed. It made the street pretty cool and they’re all actually still open here except I think Oasis which became H&M.
I know a lot of people don’t like Alshaya but I grew up with them on my street so I’m a big fan and I love how they’re bringing over American chains now (example Shake Shack). It’s sad though that their 2000th store had to be one that opened up in Dubai and not here in Kuwait. I guess it’s not something you plan… or at least I hope it wasn’t planned that way.
Thanks Joe
21 replies on “Alshaya’s 2000th store… Shake Shack”
“I know a lot of people don’t like Alshaya”
Seriously? Why would anyone hate a company that help bring all their favourite stores to Kuwait? from food chains to clothing. I’m proud of Al Shaya for their unprecedented achievements and can’t find a reason to dislike them.
I love Al-Shaya but I can easily think of a couple of reasons to not like them. Mainly because of competition. I’m not sure how to pass over the message, but they leave no room for competition. Ex. I know a guy who set out to open up a frozen youghurt chain before PinkBerry and another a Pizza store in place of Pizza Italia Abdulla Alsalem.
I personaly loose respect to the general trading business in Kuwait in general, not to Alshaya. Kuwait doesn’t allow multi ownership of franchises. Think of it this way, if we had two sets of McDonalds, with two different owners, how many times do you think would they mess up your order?
Eeeh the days of the old Salmiya when it was the IT place to see and be seen… we would go buy Fakhfakhena from the juice guy and walk up and down the street… and when Oasis opened in there the girls at school would make sure to buy clothes from there so they would carry Oasis bags to school… that was the most sophisticated thing to do ever…
Doniya!
People hate elshaye3? OK so they sell the items for double the original prices and have a starbucks in every corner in Q8… so what? at least they are investing the money in his country and nourishing the shopping scene with every single high street store you could think of instead of having no other shopping options than mojama3 elneqra and el erjowan…
The starbucks on every corner isn’t even their idea really, Starbucks US demands a certain amount. The prices are simple shipping costs, try to order something from the US and see how much you pay after shipping in customs – then imagine having to pay to store it, hire people to sell it, pay for ads to publicize it etc. any lower and they wouldn’t be making money.
Starbucks in The Simpsons
very funny >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmfH6AvcCYk
There was a scene in one of the Shrek movie where people rush out of one Starbucks and run across the street into another one.
I think the thing people hate about Alshaya is how, thanks to wasta, they are near-monopolizing the retail market in Kuwait and that is always bad for the consumer.
More economically advanced countries have laws against these sort of corrupt practices.
Wasta? The deals are with foreign companies, Wasta is hardly involved. I know for a fact there are stores and brands that have more wasta and get around regulations Shaya intentionally doesn’t but they Shaya still manages to do well. Part of why they’re able to get foreign companies over is because they actually follow international standards.
Not wasta for the franchises of course, but Wasta to have less restrictions or none at all in Kuwait, while other smaller companies have to jump through hoops just to barely get a license to operate. Do you realize how hard it is to get all of that sorted in WITHOUT wasta? it’s near impossible. This goes for most things in Kuwait as well but in this particular case, it’s even harder.
By having such strong wasta, they basically have the power to ignore/change local trade laws and such to suit their own needs and eliminate competition, which creates a massive and unstoppable monopoly situation in their chosen industry (retail)and basically lets them control all sorts of things, like regulate the stock market to their profit, inflate prices for no reason and again for personal profit, etc.. This is obviously not good for us (the consumers)but this is how big business in Kuwait operates.
It might be easier for alshaya to get a license to operate and hire people but I don’t think it’s because of wasta (or not all of it at least). I think it might be easier for them to do things because they’ve earned the trust of the government.
Thanks Mark… i was just gonna write the same thing.
it’s easier for an established company to get the license than a newbie.
Alshaya are not even in the stock market so how they are to control stock market ! and find thier prices reasonable except maybe starbucks. also from consumers wise they have the best service and return policy in Kuwait.
There are several brands in Shaya where the ministries that need to approve their shipments, promotions etc. are owned by THEIR COMPETITORS. These guys approve their own shipments (or those of their cousin, same thing) while a Shaya one can sit in the warehouse for months.
They also regularly have violations and have stores shut down or penalized for them, if they had wasta to “ignore trade laws” that wouldn’t be happening.
Inflating prices whenever they feel like it like you claim they do is grounds for closure from the ministry as well, so no, they don’t do that either unless it was pre-approved, and usually it’s the US or UK telling them to do it.
And what awesome food they have! Thanks Mr Alshaya I say for making the ME a better place to live.
who doesn’t like AlShaya?
God bless them the are making Kuwait colorful day by day
they worked from 0 and deserve each fils!
but some families here still think that some people don’t deserve to be part of Kuwait economy
Guys, a starbucks in every corner is not a Kuwait or Alshaya thing, check out this hilarious bit from an episode of Simpsons
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmfH6AvcCYk
Alshaya is a remarkable company. It shows that with intelligence, hard work and the grace of God, a company can be a world class company that Kuwait can be proud of.
I first came across them in 1998 in Qatar. They were the only Arab company client of the English law firm I worked for which invested in the Gulf. I came across them again when I worked in Oman. All the other GCC companies were investing in their own countries or in London, New York or Geneva.
Alshaya is no longer a Kuwaiti company or even a pan-Arab company. It operates serious retail businesses in the Czech republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Cyprus, Russia and elsewhere. Who would have predicted in 1983 that Starbucks, one of the world’s leading companies, would choose Alshaya to be its sole franchisee in Russia! Or that H&M’s first ever franchisee was Alshaya – they must be doing something right!
It’s important that the GCC and the Arab world has success stories in the private sector because we can’t rely on the government sector alone to provide employment, opportunity and wealth for ever.
I don’t know anyone from Al Shaya family so I’m referring to the business when I say I love them! I hear very good things from the employees about how the company is run fairly and with very high ethics.
Wish them continued success here and abroad.
2000 stores excluding startbucks?!
theres more clothes than food
I think it is sad really … but maybe cuz I want a Shake Shack burger really, really bad 🙂