I was at ABC Achrafieh yesterday and noticed Shake Shack will be opening there instead of Bob’s Easy Diner.
As you all know, Shake Shack is also set to open at Beirut City Centre and I heard it’ll be soon during this month, but I hope someone from Al-Shaya can let us know about the exact opening dates for both locations.
According to Vox Cinemas’ page on Facebook, they’ll be opening today at Beirut City Centre.
For the list of movie they’ll be showing, you can check their website.
Below are some photos I took at Beirut City Centre as I passed by it on my way back home tonight.
The first thing you’ll notice when going there is the traffic the mall is causing due to how narrow are the roads leading to its parking entrances. However, once you get inside you’ll have no problem finding a spot to park your car since the parking seemed pretty accommodating.
As I mentioned in my earlier post, a lot of shops are still not operating yet, but the open ones still offer a good variety. And I highly recommend you go check Carrefour for all the promotions they’re holding especially on some electronics.
Moreover, aside from the restaurants that will be available on the rooftop, there’s a spacious food court in the second floor offering a good variety from Lebanese to American, Italian, and Asian fast food.
Overall, it’s definitely worth a visit, if not for all the new brands it brings, then just for the sake of it being the new mall in town!
So Beirut City Centre is finally opening today and I was just able to get hold of the list of all brands that will be available at the mall. Almost half of the shops will be operating as of the opening, and the rest will gradually open over the next two months including VOX Cinemas. You can click on the below two tables for more details.
Update:
I’m sorry I had to remove the lists as per City Centre’s request since they’re not official. I’ll be posting an official list as soon as it comes out.
Update #2:
Here’s an official list published in one of City Centre’s brochures. The starred names are opening soon.
I just came across this video showing how Beirut City Centre, which is due to open in the first quareter of 2013, will look like.
Given how large the mall is, I believe it will cause massive traffic jams near its main entrances especially that the road there is so narrow.
Thanks to @MarieNakhle
After hearing many rumors that IKEA will be soon opening in Beirut City Centre, I was just informed yesterday that they are not.
According to my sources, it seems that IKEA originally asked for a very large space to rent, but due to the high demand for shop space rental by a lot of other business owners, the people behind Beirut City Centre were unable to accommodate IKEA’s needs.
This I guess doesn’t mean that IKEA will not be coming to Lebanon at all, since they’re already showing interest in the country, but it will probably take time until they decide where exactly will they choose to open.
You most probably know that ABC Achrafieh became a smoke free mall as of the 1st of March. Check how some people are reacting to this ban.
Some of them are simply putting off their cigarettes on the no-smoking sign. Gotta love how classy these people are!
Photo via @maroun_baydoun
A press conference was held at ABC Achrafieh today to announce that the mall is as of today, March 1st 2012, a 100% smoke free environment except for the restaurant in Level 3 which will ban smoking on Mondays only, knowing that most of them already have a non-smoking section.
I’m not sure if the same policy will be enforced at ABC Dbayeh as well, anyway be careful next time you pull out a cigarette at ABC Achrafiyeh!
A total smoking ban at cafes and restaurant will be applied as of September 2012 by the way, and in 2 days from now (March 3rd) all kind of tobacco advertising will be illegal as well.
Photo via @ritakml
Update:
Turned out the smoking ban is effective at the indoor spaces only, so basically you can still walk around the mall with a lit cigarette in your hand. Now that doesn’t really make them a 100% smoke free environment right?
Passing by Dbayeh you can’t but notice the expansion work underway at ABC. Below is a sneak peek of how the mall will look like once all is done, and you can check here for more photos.
Looks sexy to me!
Via Kell Shi.
Lebanon finally got itself a real online shopping website! Mizalla.com
Mizalla, who launched their service just today, are promising to be an online mall where business owners can setup their virtual store to sell their goods online (check their “Businesses” page), which means the range of available items (mainly electronics) is expected to expand.
I’m still not sure how do their prices compare to the market but I’ll make sure to let you know about it. Meanwhile do check their website, it’s really worth a shot.
Update:
I compared prices between Mizalla and Khoury Home, and they were both selling TV’s and surround systems at the same price.
However, you can get some computer accessories like external hard drives and SD card for a cheaper price at PCandParts.com. For example a Seagate 1TB external hard drive is selling for $132 at Mizalla, while it sells for $112.2 at PC and Parts ($102+vat).
Still when it came to digital cameras, PC and Parts turned to be a bit more expensive.
So prices are very close to what’s available in the market.
Update 2:
It’s better to buy SD memory cards from PC and Parts. 16GB cards class 4 are priced at $41.8 from PC and Parts while class 2 16GB cards are priced at $37.5 from Mizalla. Note that class 4 cards are twice as fast as class 2.
I’ll stop the comparisons as I guess you now have an idea.
