Living & Lifestyle East Africa

Archive for the ‘Shopping’ Category

Be My Guide to Your East African City #10: What’s the Best Bargain or Vintage Shopping Place?

In "Be My Guide To Your East African City" Series, Shopping on April 20, 2011 at 22:31

So… it seems you didn’t have much to say about clothing stores in your East African city, or maybe you just couldn’t settle on a favorite one. Given that most women (at the very least) enjoy shopping, this should have come as a bit of a surprise to me. Frankly, I wasn’t very surprised. If you my readers are anything like most of the East African residents that I know in person, then…well, you don’t really do most of your clothes shopping in stores locally. Am I right? Read the rest of this entry »

Be My Guide to Your East African City #8: What’s your Favorite Clothing Store?

In "Be My Guide To Your East African City" Series, Shopping on March 17, 2011 at 20:00

I’ll just come right out and say it: I am not one of those women who love to shop. Yes, I like having new duds, but the process of acquiring them is often more tedious than I’d like. First, there’s the matter of finding a store which stocks apparel that I care for.  Then, there’s the whole issue of finding the right size which–when you have a Western Ugandan figure like mine with a bottom half that’s a different size from your top half–can prove to be a real feat. Then, there’s trying things on. With most stores in East Africa not having a refund or return policy, who wants to be stuck with something that doesn’t fit or that just plain isn’t flattering? Read the rest of this entry »

Be My Guide to Your East African City #7: What’s the Best Grocery/Farmers Market?

In "Be My Guide To Your East African City" Series, Beverages, Food, Shopping on March 11, 2011 at 23:42

Happy Friday! I hope your work week ended well and that you are all set to have a rocking weekend! Now that we’ve had that break I promised, it’s time to get back to our series. This week, I’d like to know more about buying groceries in your city. Read the rest of this entry »

Shopping on Congo Street, Kariakoo

In Beauty, Dar es Salaam, Shopping on July 21, 2010 at 04:40

Photo Credit: simbadeo.wordpress.com

I first became aware of Congo Street in Kariakoo, Dar es Salaam on a shopping trip with my Mom, who was looking for granite slabs for her new kitchen countertop. Luckily, on that first foray into hectic Kariakoo (Wikipedia link), I was pleasantly shielded from the chaos because I was in an air-conditioned car. I really wasn’t paying attention for the most part – my main goal that day was to hang out with my Mom – but when we passed a street with hot clothes hanging from every storefront, my attention was aroused. Read the rest of this entry »

Happy Belated Birthday, Mlimani City!

In Dar es Salaam, Shopping, Shopping Malls/Complexes, Tanzania on November 21, 2009 at 23:16

Mlimani City Mall
Sam Nujoma Rd.
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

According to the plaque at its main entrance, Dar es Salaam’s Mlimani City Mall turned 3 years old last Saturday (Nov.14). Happy Belated Birthday, Mlimani City – this one is for you!

For those of you who have never heard of Mlimani City, allow me to tell you simply that it is the mall in Dar es Salaam. Although Dar es Salaam has many other shopping centers, none other can truly be elevated to the status of a mall. Housed all on one floor, Mlimani City Mall is smaller than many other malls found in neighboring countries, such as The Village Market in Kenya or Garden City in Uganda, but still, this mall packs a punch!

Allow me to give you an idea of what can be found at Mlimani City. Read the rest of this entry »

Who Exactly is Mr. Price?

In Dar es Salaam, Fashion, Kampala, Kenya, Nairobi, Shopping, Shopping Malls/Complexes, Tanzania, Uganda on September 11, 2009 at 19:57

Mr Price CapI can still remember the day when I first became aware of Mr Price’s existence. The year was 2007; I was driving along Ngong Road in Nairobi near Prestige Plaza. I looked up to see a huge banner announcing the opening of a home furnishing store called Mr. Price Home at the Westgate Centre in Westlands. I found the idea of a home furnishing store interesting and made a mental note to check out the store the next time I was in its vicinity. Read the rest of this entry »

So Soft and yet so Hard…

In Kenya, Product Reviews, Shopping, Tanzania on June 12, 2009 at 19:18

Comfortable SleepI’ve been told by some people close to me, recently, that I am rigid. The first time I heard this, I was shocked and sure that the person I was talking to had it all wrong. On second thought, though, I see where these people could be coming from. About certain things in my life, I see no compelling reason to compromise (at least not for the most part) and so, in these areas, I stick to running my life exactly as I see fit. One such area of my life is sleep. Read the rest of this entry »

Sensations, Nakumatt

In Kenya, Nairobi, Shopping on November 29, 2008 at 20:53

Rose-petals-in-handMy mother often half-jokingly says that I eat toilet paper and drink perfume. That’s in reference to how fast I use up each of these items. Let’s leave the first item alone for now (toilet paper might one day be the subject of a post because here too, I have advice to offer about what brands to use - Eurosilk anyone?) and focus on the second item, perfume. Well, not really perfume itself, rather I’d like to talk about where to purchase perfume, in Nairobi. Read the rest of this entry »

What Do You Think About 24-Hour Supermarkets?

In Kenya, Kigali, Nairobi, Rwanda, Services, Shopping, Shopping Malls/Complexes on November 2, 2008 at 22:43

It’s been over a year since Nakumatt turned Nakumatt Ukay into a 24-hour facility. 24-hour shopping has become quite normal in Nairobi with Nakumatt Downtown and Nakumatt Ngong Road both also having become 24-hour facilities in the recent past. How has the phenomenon of  round-the-clock supermarket availability affected your life during the course of the past year? Read the rest of this entry »

Yaya Centre – Y go anywhere else?

In Kenya, Nairobi, Services, Shopping, Shopping Malls/Complexes on October 1, 2008 at 19:28

Yaya Centre
Argwings Kodhek Rd., Kilimani
Tel: +254 (20) 2713360/1
Email: info@yaya.co.ke
Website:www.yaya-centre.co.ke

When I first saw Yaya Centre‘s new slogan a couple of years ago, I thought: How pompous! No, there really is reason to go elsewhere. That was back when the revamping of the Yaya Centre had just begun, and Yaya’s greatest claim to fame, at the time, was that it had been one of Nairobi‘s first shopping malls. A couple of years later, I see where Yaya Centre was coming from with its slogan – Y go anywhere else?.  I guess the management at Yaya Centre already knew what Yaya was about to become though it took us, its customers, a little longer to find out. Read the rest of this entry »

Zahava Shanny

In Nairobi, Shopping on July 1, 2008 at 21:15

A while back, I stopped by Yaya briefly to buy something from Chandarana supermarket. I entered Yaya through the entrance near the Barclays ATM, but it was business as usual until I found myself at another exit, the main entrance/exit.

Lately, I have noticed that Yaya often has exhibits at their main entrance area during the latter part of the week. Sometimes, stores within the complex exhibit their wares; at other times, the exhibitors are from places other than Yaya.

This time, as I was rushing out of Yaya, trying to get to my next destination, I had no intention of spending any time at the main entrance exhibitions, but when some jewelry caught my eye, the woman in me had no choice but to stop and take a closer look. :-) Read the rest of this entry »

Nakumatt, Westgate Centre

In Nairobi, Shopping on May 13, 2008 at 23:00

Westgate Centre by Night - Image Credit: www.nairaland.com

Wow! Nakumatt has outdone itself again in the form of Nakumatt Westgate and the Westgate Centre! Granted, I am sure credit for the center is not all Nakumatt’s (as I hear Nakumatt leases the space that it occupies), but still I am sure Nakumatt had a great role to play in making the Westgate Centre what it is today. Read the rest of this entry »

Lost your Nakumatt Smartcard?

In How-to, Kenya, Services, Shopping on November 8, 2007 at 19:49

I first signed up for Nakumatt’s customer reward scheme in 2003, when it first came out. I was making a big purchase at Nakumatt Mega, when the cashier asked me whether or not I had a Nakumatt Smartcard. Having no clue as to what he was talking about, he told me that a Nakumatt Smartcard was a card that allowed customers to accumulate points with every purchase made at Nakumatt. These points would then one day be redeemable for awards – sort of the way it’s done in a frequent flyer’s program.

At the time, I was not much of a Nakumatt shopper. In those days, Uchumi was my preferred supermarket chain. Still, I knew I would be making a number of big household purchases at Nakumatt in the near future because I was moving into a new home and so decided to sign up. Read the rest of this entry »