Search: “ghanim”

The new True Value location opened up today and I passed by to check it out. I didn’t like it, I actually hated it. The old True Value never really was that great but at least it felt cozy which now it lacks. The location of the new True Value is Al-Rai. If you’re on the 4th ring road and Lexus and Toyota are on your right hand side, keep going straight and take the right turn before Alghanim Electronics. Then, keep going straight until you see True Value on the left.

I have a feeling Virgin is going to end up closing down at Marina Mall. I don’t think they’ve been doing good for a long time and the only thing they really have left is their electronics and video games section. Today I was at Marina and noticed Alghanim was opening up right in front of Virgin. Alghanim sells both video games and electronics for cheaper so whats really left for Virgin?

Quiznos, the American franchise opened up recently at the Baitak Tower (weird name). I passed by for lunch and it was pretty good (I had “the traditional” sandwich). The staff seemed a bit lost and they have a serious ventilation problem but as long as you sit outside the store its not a problem. 7inch subs were around KD1, 12inch subs around KD1.600 and to upgrade to a combo (fries+coke) its 500fils. Baitak Tower is in Kuwait City, next to the ABK tower where KFH and Alghanim X-Cite are located.

Just found this interesting photoset on Flickr which contains photographs that were taken in Kuwait around 1950. All the pictures were scanned by David C. Foster from the photograph album of Francis Hadden Andrus. The picture above is of Yousef Ahmad Al-Ghanim on the left and Tom G. Mohney on the right. [Pictures]

Update: In case you missed it the shot below was featured on SomeContrast.com awhile back. Its a picture that dates back to 1956 and is of the first Porsche in Kuwait. The owner Murad Behbahani is sitting behind the wheel, and his brothers Mohammed and Redha Behbahani next to him. In a way it’s kinda similar to the shot above. [Link]

Earlier in the month I posted about how Carrefour started carrying the MSI Wind. Well I got a call a few days back from the MSI Wind dealer who wanted to give me an MSI Wind to keep and review for the blog. Of course I said YES and today I went and picked it up. I had three colors to choose from, the black, white and the pink and I decided to go for the black which I hadn’t seen before. Once I got back home and opened the box I was glad I went with black because it looks really great.

I’ve only had a few minutes to play with the Wind and so far I really like the size. When I had the 12inch iBook I hoped Apple would release a 10inch version but instead they ended up releasing the 13inch which although is great is pretty big to carry around. 10inch seems to be the right size for a portable laptop. Originally I had regretted getting the Eee when I found out about the Wind but now I have both which is perfect! I am going to Munich later this week so the MSI Wind came at a perfect time since I will be able to take it with me and try it out as a travel laptop. I am also interested to see how long the battery is going to last since it uses the new Intel Atom chip.

If anyone has any thing they want to know about the Wind or something you want me to compare to the Asus Eee 900 please leave your question in the comments below. A user in the forum was able to install Mac OS X on the Wind so thats something I will probably attempt to do once I get back from Munich.

According to the dealer the MSI Wind is sold at Alghanim, Electrozan, Carrefour, Lulu Hypermarket and Bin Khaldoun street for KD185. Actually it might be a bit cheaper at Bin Khaldoun street.

Update: I soooo hate Windows XP, how do you guys use it!

Update2: If you need to contact the dealer their number is 810810

I just found out about a new online electronics store called Feeezo. They don’t have a very large collection of electronics but if this is just the beginning then the idea sounds promising. The website looks like crap, and I think most of the items are from Alghanim except Feeezo is more expensive. But, its a nice idea which I think Alghanim should implement themselves. [Link]

Thanks Rakan!

I was at Alghanim today and saw this portable Humax satellite dish. It comes with a 17inch screen on the front and the dish mounted on the back. You just setup the tv/dish anywhere and point it in the right direction using the built in compass and thats it, live satellite TV where ever you are. Costs around KD300.

A friend just told me that Trader Vic’s is opening on the Gulf Road right after Kuwait Towers and Ruby Tuesday. There are 3 small buildings that were just built on the sea side and one of them supposedly is Trader Vic’s. Will try and double check this myself tomorrow.

Update: I can now confirm that Trader Vic’s is in fact opening on the Gulf Road near Ruby Tuesday in front of Mais Alghanim.

I was looking for an ATM machine today morning when I stumbled up this new Alghanim branch in Kuwait City. Its in the mall underneath the new KFH building next to Ahli Bank. The design is very similar to the branch in the Avenues which I’ve mentioned before I really liked. I guess this is their new look which is pretty cool.

Today I passed by Abyat to get a sneak peek. They officially open on the 18th but I’ve got a friend who works there and he told me I could pass by any time to check it out. Although the store isn’t 100% complete yet I did leave feeling very impressed. Compared to Alghanim’s Platform, Abyat is exactly 3 times as big and so have a lot more items. I will be going back there for sure once they launch since I found a couple of items I needed. I took a bunch of shots which you can check out below by clicking on continue.

I don’t know how accurate this information is since it was posted as a comment by a reader of the blog but according to him the IKEA owners are in dispute with the Avenues management due to the new outlet of Alghanim at the Avenues. Alghanim launched a new concept store right across from IKEA where they are selling electronics AND furniture. The agreement between IKEA and the Avenues is that they should be the only furniture outlet in the mall.

According to the same reader a fight has also started between Carrefour and IKEA against the Avenues management. Neither Carrefour nor IKEA are willing to accept the fact that their customers now have to pay for parking.

Finally just some more info. Carrefour paid KD3.5 per square meter, IKEA paid KD4.5 while Alghanim paid KD10 per square meter for their store.

Again, I don’t know how accurate the information above is but it sounds plausible.

Marzouq and I had a chance to check out InfoConnect before the doors open to public tomorrow:

The good:
Qualitynet is offering huge price cuts in addition to ‘extras’ that will only be offered when you subscribe/renew at InfoConnect. In addition to a ‘Sky DSL’ service which possibly means two way satellite service (as UCC). They also are offering a raffle for a Mini (might be one of the ‘extras’) with Al-Ghanim.

TechSys has a ton of new products from Planet and Silverstone, from HTPC/High-End cases, quiet/ultra-powerful power supplies to affordable networking products like smart switches and ip-cameras.

Lastly, E-Government is in full effect this year; Bahrain and Oman’s governments showing off their e-capabilities alongside Kuwait’s MOI, MOC and PACI. There are Several Kiosks, payment devices and even a decked out BMW Police Car on display.

The bad:
No Zain (they have their own event in April?), No Zajil, No Fasttelco, and not even Wasel (new Internet Company). For those looking to get a new deal on their EGO or DSL lines… You might be out of luck with the big players sitting it out. However, Zajil has already slashed prices with 3mb going for less than 850kd for a year’s subscription.

The ugly:
Aside from the cheaper yet still over-inflated pricing on the same old items… There is not much that InfoConnect has to offer. Without the Internet companies using February as a time to introduce their new offerings… you might as well take a stroll down any Ibn Khaldoun for the same experience.

The reality is that InfoConnect is a second rate bazaar with local stores trying to unload the remaining stock from their warehouse. Everyone from ElectroZan, Yousifi, Al-Ghanim Electronics and Sony are busy selling Televisions and DVD players than showing off new technology.

On the bright side, this might be a good chance to pick up that TV you have been thinking about. In addition to the electronics… there is an endless supply of Phone stores, two bit computer shops and Chinese stands selling items which can probably be found for cheaper in Hawalli.

I put up some pictures on my Flickr page [here].

-Posted by K

I will be posting tomorrow the ISP cost comparison.

I just got to Al Ghanim and am waiting to pick up the keys to the new 2008 Cadillac CTS. They are keeping it with me for the weekend so I can review it. Its been a while since I last reviewd a car so it should be fun. (Posted from my Nokia E61i)

The Stallion commented in my previous Kuwait motor show post that Fouad Al-Ghanim will be bringing Spyker to Kuwait and they will have cars at the exhibition. I checked the Spyker website and it confirms that they WILL be at the exhibition so thats going to be pretty cool. [Link]

Someone just told me that Al-Sayer Al-Ghanim are launching a new store in Kuwait thats similar in concept to The Home Depot in the US. Supposedly its going to be called “Platform” and they will be launching some time mid this month. I think its about time someone is opening a decent home improvement place here in Kuwait, the only thing we have is Ace Hardware but it really doesn’t have a lot of things.