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50s to 90s Kuwait Photography

Sultan Center 1986

I recently got a hold of this beautiful picture of the original Sultan Center in Salmiya taken back in 1986. Here is a link to a larger version of the photo. [Picture]

Update: This picture was taken in 1986, not 1982.

42 replies on “Sultan Center 1986”

Did you know that in 1981, with the launch of Kuwait’s first self-service store in Shuwaikh specializing in the supply of household hardware and do-it-yourself products, The Sultan Center, the retail brand, was born.

Back then Sultan Center was like WallMart

And the award for the oldest recorded evidence of an improperly parked luxury car in Kuwait goes to the curb stone riding MB in the center of the pic

Notice on the two cars in the front they have circular blue/red stickers on the windshield. Those were changed every year I think, every time you renewed your car. Good thing we don’t have to stick ugly stickers like that anymore.

Geez the old version looks better than the new one – I even remember the one in Shuweikh (which was the first one that opened if im not mistaken…)

I like the bright red motif.

I remember this one clearly… i think they kept the red and white colors until after the liberation

What i cannot find though is the old ad with the children inside sultan Salmiya singing ‘Markaz Sultaan Bel Salmiyaa….’

Look how life was so simple, no aliens hanging around the parking lot of Sultan Center. The traffic was so calm and how beautiful all that was,,, ahhhh these days will never come back again

@Bu Yousif: Mark just finished 50 hamburgers for lunch in New York. Having another iPhone would be just too much to handle…

at time when you could actually see the sea!!

under-restricted commercialism destroyed that street and the beach along w/ it

Bu Yousif: I didn’t post about the iPhone because I wasn’t there, I didn’t play with it or try it out so I can’t provide you with anything more than what you and everyone here have already read in like a million places including the local newspapers, cnn, bbc, gizmodo, engadget etc..

There would be zero reason for me to post it unless I thought none of you were sophisticated enough to read the news.

@Rob: Yeah i know and he just missed such a huge event : “>

@Hotdawg: i am referring to whoever is acting abnormally. For example, teenagers with spiky hair style etc.

Waitrose is opening soon in Bahrain, at Villamar in the Bahrain Financial Harbour. Now, that’s a supermarket…

I was in Kuwait back then, I was 4 when this picture was taken!
I still remember the old TV commercial for Sultan Center, it was a song in Kuwaiti accent. Searched it on YouTube but couldn’t find it 🙁

Just to be complete, can you post a pic of the place as it is today. I went there a few weeks back when I was visiting Kuwait, and it looked sad.

Sultan Center should go back to it’s older look and colors and bring back the big-chinned mascot too!

TSC @ Salmiya opened in 1986…..!! How can this picture taken in 1982?? 🙂
Below details are from TSC website.

1981: TSC opens its first retail outlet in Shuwaikh, followed in 1982 by a second in Fahaheel.

1986: TSC introduces the first “one-stop shop” retail outlet in Salmiya, the first of its kind in the region.

1997: TSC begins trading publicly on the Kuwait Stock Exchange under the ticker “SULTAN.”

1999: TSC opens its first overseas retail store in Oman.

2003: TSC acquires Safeway (Jordan), adding seven stores to its existing portfolio in Kuwait and Oman.

2010: TSC opens its first retail store in Bahrain.

Today: With 13 stores in Kuwait, more outlets overseas, and further ambitious expansion plans, TSC has secured its position as Kuwait’s premier retailer and one of the Gulf’s leading businesses.

TJ- Hey , if you know so much about TSC why leave the one that opened in Beirut out, double check ur info next time you want to act smart.

Mark – it is hot outside. Lots of haters about.

I wish TSC still looked like that – it looks new and fresh. It now looks old and tired. Glad to hear that they are going to move – it is just too cramped in there and people are constantly bumping into each other. I like the one in Hawalli, but I don’t like what I have to do to get to it (traffic).

Thanks for the post!

I worked in the Salwa store from 1987. Under american Joe Anderson. Jamil Sultan bought loads of people from around the world and built a great team. Left on holiday and was unable to return due to invasion. Good memories.

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