The Logistics of Settling In 185with 12 outlets. City Stars has a multiplex cinema equipped
with 13 screens and an indoor theme park built on a total
area of 6,000 sq m (64,583 sq ft). As you would expect,
high rents in the malls mean higher prices; but, you can get
things you couldn’t even think about getting in Egypt only
a few years ago!
Shopping is, at the same time, one of the most fun things
and one of the most frustrating things you can do in Egypt.
There are has two kinds of shopping areas: modern and
traditional. In the better parts of Cairo and Alexandria,
modern boutiques and stores abound with the newest
European fashions and Western goods.
The rest of Egypt is full of traditional small shops and
fairly big department-type stores that sell everything from
toothpaste to coffee pots and batteries. They are in every
nook and cranny. Omar Effendi’s (government-owned),
located in most big cities, is the Egyptian counterpart to a
Western department store.
As mentioned previously, markets or souks are easily
accessible in all towns and cities. In stores and markets where
you see printed price signs, for example in the windows,
prices are set. You don’t bargain in these places. Of course,
you don’t bargain at any of the modern malls either! If you
are in doubt as to whether a place you are shopping in has
fixed prices or bargaining, just ask. Sometimes shops have
both fixed price items and bargaining.
Bargaining
Egyptians love to shop and bargaining is a national art
form! Bargaining is a challenge that makes shopping really
fun. It also gives you a great opportunity to get to know
local people and their ways. Egyptians will bargain for
everything from carpets to gold to trinkets to bottled water,
cigarettes, and popsicles. I will briefly describe a typical
process, but remember, this is only a general guideline.
Develop your own negotiating style and get into the spirit of
Egyptian shopping.
First, you will, of course, see something you want. So you
ask the price. The shopkeeper gives you a price that is the