3some
Discount stores
They’re cheap, they’re cheerful and they will have even the most hardened penny pinchers emptying out their purses. Yes, the city’s cut-price consumer havens are stocked to the rafters with plastic tat, but hidden among the mosque alarm clocks and gold tissue box covers are some fantastically practical products that every home needs. At these prices it would be rude not to succumb to the discount store charm. Michelle Byrne picks three of our favourite purveyors that won’t pull on your purse strings.
1. Daiso, Lamcy Plaza (04 335 1532)
Japan’s number one discount store (as all the adverts, carrier bags and signs tell us time and again) is situated on the third floor of one of the city’s oldest shopping malls. It’s packed with crockery (diminutive teapots, soy sauce kettles, and miso soup bowls), homeware (tablecloths, strong incense, and neon cleaning products) and tempting food (all manner of sweet treats stuffed inside automatically kitsch Japanese packaging). Most items will set you back Dhs5, but invest in some of the slightly pricier items for long lasting quality. Japanese teapot costs Dhs15, silk-look cushion costs Dhs10, scented floated candle costs Dhs5.
2. Day To Day, Kuwait Street, Karama (04 396 8434)
You can’t miss Day To Day – the garishly-coloured silk flowers filling an entire window is a dead giveaway, but thankfully fake flora is just a small part of their stock. While the kitsch Barbie hairbands and manga-style mugs make excellent gifts for ironically-minded friends, useful interior items line the shelves and rarely reach above the Dhs2 mark. Kitchenware is particularly prevalent in the aisles, along with foul-smelling toiletries that offend from 20 paces, and plastic fantastic toys to keep the kids quiet. While there are no guarantees how long some of this stuff will last, at these prices they will never break the bank. Set of five wooden cooking utensils costs Dhs2, wooden rolling pin costs Dhs2, bottle opener costs Dhs2.
3. Gift Village next to Deira City Centre (04 294 8900)
This sprawling metropolis of a store stocks all the usual Karama fare at knockdown prices. You name it and Gift Village probably stock it – including miniature ‘crystal’ Burj al Arab statues and cuddly camels. There’s even a real live fish (probably for sale too) inexplicably swimming in one of their vases. A large section of the spacious shop is dedicated to both bargain and big name electrical appliances, there are enough tools to fill a DIY-fanatic’s shed, along with a host of radioactive-looking sweets ready to rot kids’ teeth. The brand name toiletries are great value, but your kitchen is most likely to benefit from their best deals. Clock costs Dhs10, twin pack of screwdrivers costs Dhs7, set of six glasses cost Dhs6.
New Opening
HyperPanda
For months the ‘coming soon’ signs posted opposite Ikea had our curiosity growing and our imaginations running riot – images of boisterous black and white bears on a sugar rush being particularly vivid. We never expected that our first visit to HyperPanda would be quite that eventful, but security at the Saudi supermarket had other ideas.
After a near fatal drive through Festival City’s treacherous makeshift ‘roads’, a feeling of déjà vu washed over us as we stepped through the supermarket’s gargantuan doors. Had we just stepped into Carrefour? The similarities in the stores’ layout and stock are uncanny. There’s the ubiquitous sweetsmelling bakery and well-stocked butchers plus fresh fruit and veg to fill your kitchen. There’s a good selection of English and Arabic books, all manner of luggage, and racks and racks of inexpensive-looking clothing (including aisles stocked full of racy women’s underwear, polyester suits for men and dinky outfits to kit the kids out with). There is also a host of produce from around the region including cereals from Lebanon, sweets from Iran, and honey from Yemen as well as Saudi Arabian offerings.
We’d like to tell you if HyperPanda’s prices are cheaper than its French competitor, but the truth is we have no idea – our notes were confiscated after we were marched through the supermarket and interrogated in a small room by security guards like we were shoplifters. HyperPanda are clearly paranoid about the competition spying on their stock, but despite promises of being able to speak to a manager, a jumped up PA instead wagged her finger in our faces and ranted about how ‘writing prices down is not allowed.’ There were no explanations, no reasoning and a lot of waiting around before our ID was taken from us and photocopied for the management’s ‘records’, thus putting in doubt future Shoptalk trips to the new supermarket.
Stay clear of the stationery aisle and don’t dare bring a shopping list if you want to avoid security’s suspicion. And unless you’re in Festival City you might want to steer clear of HyperPanda altogether, at least until the roads have been sorted out. Michelle Byrne.
HyperPanda (04 232 5566), Festival City. Open daily 9am-12 midnight.