I’m a huge fan of BoConcept so I found this news very disappointing. It seems they weren’t doing so well in Kuwait and so they’ve decided to close down their store and leave Kuwait by February. They were my favorite furniture store and it sucks that they’re closing.
Thanks Patrick
52 replies on “BoConcept Closing Down”
90% of Kuwaitis want cheap Chinese products, so alganim , home center , Thajej etc will do just fine even though you can import Alghanim 700KD bed room for 300KD from china !
Quality furniture like Boconcept, roch bobois, hülsta will close down sooner or later eventually !
Then why do a lot of the stores in Tilal do well? If people want quality here they want something Italian or French, not scandinavian
The designer is Scandinavian, but the whole concept and store was established in Dubai.
Actually , Kuwaitis looking for Quality and value don’t buy ready made furniture and rather have it custom made .
Yeah, but first they go to places like BoConcept and The One and take photos and measurements to have their “quality” furniture made at 1/4 the price in Dajeej. Yeah….
And this is also why Ikea has done so well…. “quality”.
i havent checked out Mark’s blog in months..i come back only to find a continuation to “kuwaiti bashing”…
anyway..as long as the bashing is coming from a girl who says the following about herself:
“Confused American lady living in Kuwait commenting on daily occurrances through her warped perspective”
then i guess i shouldnt be TOO insulted..after all, she is confused and her perspective is pretty WARPED..
an american talking down to us about quality…whats next? an israeli preaching to us about peace maybe??
Don’t bother Spartan, they’re just “cheap labor” earning for a living in Kuwait.
Amen
Wow. Sounds like you’ve got the corner on “bashing”, Spartan.
I did the same thing I talked about – had all my furniture made in Dajeej.
But hey – haters are haters and you just go on with your bad self, Spartan. It all comes around.
Bashing Kuwait isn’t my thing. Telling it like it is, is.
awww “haters are haters” huh?? you and people like you should know..you live in kuwait and u hate on it and on the people who live in it all day long..
and ur not “telling it like it is” ur just being a typical ignorant american hating on kuwaitis..i noticed its trendy among expats to hate on kuwaitis..
and its funny how u accuse kuwaitis of not caring about quality and then admit that u buy ur furtniture from dajeej…not that it was a surprise to me, but if u acknowledge being cheap along with being confused and with a warped perspective, it doesnt mean people around are too.
“They” ??? who are they….. some Kuwaitis or all Kuwaitis….
BTW IKEA worldwide is doing very well… it gives you value for money. It is not high end, but it works for the large section of society.
Quality made by someone in Farwaniya????
So Mark- do I feel a January sale coming on??:)
I guess these days people are more inclined to get cheap stuff. Such a shame the whole market is flooded with Chinese cheap stuff.
hence why they’re closing down BoConcept and expanding THE One in it’s place
…the one is cheap?
Oh god, I shipped my Dajeej L-shaped furniture to Australia and I’m probably going to end up selling them for $40. And they fit around 15 people. It’s crap quality but I didn’t care back then because I was so impressed that I can have custom made furniture!
I ended up getting rid of most of the stuff I bought from Kuwait. I love cheap Chinese stuff but sadly, I’m not one to take care of furniture so all my furniture has a lifespan of 6 months.
Chinese stuff Kuwait is much better than Chinese stuff from Australia. I have NO idea why.
what is the location of the store?
a clearance is coming soon
Another day, another closing.
But don’t worry, the economy is fine.
the economy IS fine actually…the problem is that we are not fully utilizing the budget surplus properly..i hope u dont blame the national economy for the closure of some baqqala in 7awalli too..
businesses die and new businesses come into the market on a daily basis…its like life…people die and others r born..
So budget mismanagement is OK?
Kuwait’s economy is not full free-market economy (as in uncontrolled government influence or intervention).
I am a partner and Executive Manager of a contracting company, and from my experience in dealing with construction projects in Kuwait, yes there is a problem. Not in there are no projects, but rather no cash flow.
to clarify I meant “uncontrolled WITHOUT government influence or intervention”
Translation: I work for my dad
And I own 10% of the company and I run the day to day business.
Or does that mean I don’t have a say in this matter?
LOOOL
aha now ur talkin about something COMPLETELY different..
health of the economy is one thing..mismanagement is something else..especially in a country that gets the vast majority of its income from the sale of petroleum..
and please..give me an example of a free market WITHOUT government influence or intervention…and please dont say the united states cuz their “bailout” plan was a massive rape to free market capitalism..
u r a partner and an executive manager etc etc…i am an MBA and a PhD candidate and i work in the financial sector and i know what im talkin about..our surplus in 2011 was reported over 32 BILLION $..so i dont know what u mean exactly by “no cash flow”….that might be a problem ur own company is facing…but im sorry, ur company is NOT “the kuwaiti economy”
My company works within a specific industry. And this industry is construction.
If I name all the companies (big name players) that I deal with who miss their payments, and how many legal cases are open because of money not being paid (hence no cash flow) to fulfill our obligations to sub-contractors and suppliers, you will be shocked.
If you want to talk about the service sector, yes it’s doing great. But don’t also tell me that no financial companies who failed or near bankruptcy (Such as Global Investment who defaulted (https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/default-by-kuwaiti-investment-house-hits-gulfs-reputation-as-financial-hub-1207510.html), or that the stock market value is top notch, or that there aren’t so many unrented office spaces in Kuwait City (hhttps://speaktheblues.blogspot.com/2011/10/office-rents-in-kuwait-down-50.html)
This is all in the news. I’m not making stuff up.
You’re welcome to come to my office to discuss these matters in more detail 🙂
i never disagreed with u on how certain sectors and/or businesses are suffering more than others..but what you are saying makes it sound as if the structure of kuwaiti economy is similar to the american economy where “private spending” is actually a big part of the GDP formula..when in fact, if ALL businesses completely shut down by tomorrow, kuwait will STILL report a massive budgetary surplus..
which is why i was and still am saying that the economy is super…but some businesses are suffering..and the demise of certain businesses creates a vacancy and some entrepreneurs will take advantage and fill in the void..
Yep, bring on another frozen yoghurt franchise, just what everybody needs…
Another day, another overpriced store with no demand to cover their overhead closing
Overpriced?Do you know what you are talking about? I think you dont belong to the urban minded people. it is actually competitive to the urban minded shoppers plus its functionality is amazing.
Well obviously it’s not competitive because it’s closing down because they made no money. Please tell me “urban minded shopper” how you love to waste your money
I wouldnt care because it gives value for money… the Ego etc…not unless you are stingy and rather go for cheap stuff.
Lists of way Bo Concept has amazing functionality:
You can sit on their couch
You can put drinks on the couch
You can stand on the couch
If you want I guess you can put a TV on the couch
FUNCTION
Yes great functionality without even the aaa battery size will still works.isnt it AMAZING!lol!
does it stain, if it does, then it has no functionality.
Its over priced, even the one is over priced.
Is it just Bo-Concept or the One too?
I must say that i have never seen something very interesting or worth buying from Bo-Concept (that is my own opinion). Also it might not be the price which is stoping people from buying, but rather the lack of interest in their concept or people don’t see its product worth the money spent on it.
There are other shops in Kuwait more expensive, yet thay are doing very well.
One more thing, i hope that people stick to the issues presented rather than turning it into Kuwait this and Kuwaitis are …. etc !!
open ur own blog and manage it the way u want…cuz as far as i know this is Mark’s blog..and i will defend my country and my fellow citizens the way i see fit and its up to the owner of the blog to either censor what i have to say or not
Never liked anything at their store. There’s a lot better places for home items
BoConcept was my absolut favorite furniture store. You can’t find anything as good looking and functional for their prices.
Obviously you can Mark else they wouldnt be closing.
No connection, if people don’t know about a place doesn’t mean the place sucks
They been open since the beginning of marina mall . That was what 10 years ago? If in 10 years a business hasn’t made money then there’s obviously a problem with the products. Business 101
Again that has no relation. The fact that they’ve been open for 10 years should tell you that something must have been going right. Maybe they weren’t making as much profit as The One which is why the owner decided to expand The One.
Keep in mind BoConcept wasn’t products for the mass, they were more expensive than The One. BoConcept is Danish, The One’s products are Chinese so people went for the cheaper.
Maybe the fact the BoConcept showroom was tiny and didn’t have much on display could be the problem. In Lebanon their showroom is huge and they had more items on display which makes it easier to choose.
Finally a lot of their products they didn’t carry in stock and needed to be ordered if not from Dubai then Denmark. I had to wait a few months for some of my items and I’m sure not many people would want to do that.
So again the fact they’re closing down doesn’t mean their products weren’t great.
Didn’t they open a second showroom somewhere in Kuwait ? I remember seeing an advert a while back.
So are they closing both showrooms ? And If that’s a yes, then again , there must be an issue with the actual product line.
Listen dude if you want to hate just to hate then really there isn’t much to discuss.
We’re talking business basics Mark. If they’re closing 2 stores that means the products arent working.
They have 1 store…
Where did the other one go?
There other one was in tilal mall. Bo concept is not a good brand
I’m not sure there was another. As a customer I can tell u what the problem was:
– staff that’s unfamiliar with the products. If its not on display or it’s something customized differently from the pictures they get confused
– they have heavy discounts so now I buy only during discounts
– small collection on display
– sometimes long wait times for delivery if not available in Dubai
– location, because it’s in the same store as THE One the brand feels expensive. You feel like you’re buying from THE one but paying the BoConcept prices
Bo Concept is one if the finest brand in furniture and many local customer still loves the brand and waiting for the reopen Bo concept in Kuwait, People who knew about Bo Concept brand will always prefer to shop in Bo Concept because its very clean, neat, straight line and very modernist design. Very soon all will see that Bo Concept is BACK