Mon 21 Nov 2005
This poll is inspired from the last post regarding subway…
* I forgot Hardeez from the list, so it now replaces Popeyes, the results for popeye’s in the graph are actually for Hardeez!
Sat 19 Nov 2005
On the first day of my first marketing class back in college, the professor asked us a simple question …. “what are the 3 most important factors in a success of a business?”
Everyone came up with answers, and everything we picked was wrong! Finally someone said “location?”, and the professor said “that’s right, what r the other two?” It took us another 10 mins or so then someone else said “ummm….location?”
“Correct!! Location, location, location!!”
So…..basically location is pretty important ;P
This brings me back to my subject….Subway!
Subway has to be one of my favorite restaurants! Its good healthy food thats fast and cheap! I used to like it in the US, but the Kuwaiti Subway restaurants are so much cleaner and fresher than the US ones!
Anyway, I remember when subway first opened in Kuwait many years ago, around 1996 I think, it opened in old salmiya, near the current Hardeez on the corner. I used to be a fan and went there alot, although being all the way in Salmiya was a bit of a hassle for a quick sandwich! I actually saw my wife there for the first time and fell in love at first sight ;P
Not much after it opened, it closed. Subway didnt last much and not many people knew it at the time! It simply failed! A few years later, it opened again in Salmiya, but I think it was owned by Sultan Center or something (im not quite sure). It also didnt last much!
Then came the new person who brought it over to Kuwait. They re-opened the Salmiya branch and then in Hawalli and then in Khaldiya I think. The Khaldiya branch is open 24 hours, and after a slow start, its always busy now! Try going at around 2 or 3 am, its always full!! I guess they realized that this works! Its open in a residential area and its a tiny place that doesnt cost as much as salmiya or hawalli and is always more busy! Since then they have opened in many more residential areas! I know I have seen it Tha7yat 3abdalla AlSalem, in 3dailiya, Khaldiya, and Shamiya so far!
I just came back from the 3dailya Subway, and it was BUSY! I had to wait for around 10 mins for my turn and had at least 8 or 9 people waiting behind me when I got there! There were 4 people working on the sandwiches so it wasn’t really slow, it was just packed!
What a difference in the restaurant and its popularity now compared to back then! Everybody knows it now and people go there alot! Residential areas meant closer to the people, and being in a jam3iya means the name is always there, and in less than 2 years, its has become extremely popular! My college professor was right, location, location, location!
P.S.- why do people fill their sandwiched with 12039373 kinds of sauce?!?!
Sat 1 Oct 2005
With a good number of participants in this last poll, the results of this poll are pretty close to being a real sample for once!
No suprise in Starbucks winning, and then Costa, followed by Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, then a tie between Second Cup and Casper & Gambini!
Favourite coffee shop in Kuwait ….
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Fri 30 Sep 2005
From now on, Friday is poll day. Seeing that on Friday, my blog gets the least number of visitors during the week, I decided to create a new poll every Friday.
This week’s poll concerns coffee shops in Kuwait, and Im not talking about places like قهوة بو ناشي or something similar! Im talking about imported coffee shops that have become so popular that you can find one 5 mins away from you wherever you are!
If you pick other, please specify in comments section.
By the way, if you have any suggestions for a poll you would like to see, please send me an email at Kuwaitism@gmail.com , and not by suggesting it as a comment! Thanks in advance!
Tue 26 Jul 2005
Best Sushi restaurant in Kuwait
| Selection | Votes | |
| Maki |  26% |
19 |
| Edu | 15% |
11 |
| Sakura | 11% |
8 |
| Kei | 11% |
8 |
| Wasabi | 7% |
5 |
| Kamikaze | 0% |
0 |
| Sushi Club | 1% |
1 |
| Ewww…..raw fish! | 30% |
22 |
 |
|
|
| 74 votes total | ||
The results are in!
After 24 hours of the poll being online, which allows everyone one vote per day, we have a mini-study that shows the people’s choice of sushi restaurant in Kuwait.
The winner of best sushi restaurant in Kuwait is………Maki restaurant!
Obviously 74 votes is a small sample, but it does give a direction as to what people think. I dont know how to close the poll so people might be able to vote again soon after the 24 hours are over. Those votes WILL NOT COUNT. We will stick with the 74 votes.
I was surprised to see that 30% of the voters do not like sushi! I honestly expected that number to be significantly less! Other than that, no major surprises.
Congrats to Maki!
Mon 25 Jul 2005
I have always been fascinated with consumer opinions. I love market research, I enjoy reading it alot. Unfortunately, in Kuwait it is not that efficient, for many reasons. Anyway, to make a long story short, I will start my own research here getting people’s opinions on products, services, and so on in Kuwait.
I will start with a question that has caused many debates and confusion….
This poll is open to all readers, not only registered ones….enjoy!
Results will be announced tomorrow afternoon!
Sun 17 Jul 2005
So Starbucks in Kuwait decided to increase their prices! All items are up by 50-150 fils.
So I ask an employee for the reason for this price raise, and he said that its bcz they havent changed their prices in the past 9 yrs. I didn’t really think much about it, figured prices of coffee must have gone up in recent years so they decided to raise prices. Then I go and ask a couple of other employees about the increase, and I was told that it was only done in Kuwait!
That annoyed me!
I admit I am a regular at starbucks, at least once a day, but this kind of turned me off for a while!
To be fair, Costa’s coffee is much worse and is way more expensive that Starbucks, so it still is a better deal in terms of comparison. I remember buying an iced latte from Costa for 1.300KD, and the cup was like those tiny sample cups u get, plus it sucked!! At Starbucks, now its 1.300KD for a grande latte, which is better than Costa in terms of price, but still sucks at principal!
Im sure Starbucks in Kuwait is making more money than most Starbucks outlets in the world, so why mess with a winning formula?!?
So I thought, ok, the only other explanation is that they see some kind of inflation and they want to adjust their prices for that. If that’s true, then I should expect them to lower their prices when the economy goes bust?!?
I personally think its a case of “Kuwaitis can afford it….if we lose 5% of our business bcz of that, we’re already increasing near 10% margins, so just raise the price!”
I cant wait for Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf to open in Kaifan! Thats the only alternative, but its only in Salmiya for now, and I think will open within a couple of weeks closer to this side of town in Kaifan!
Fri 8 Jul 2005
As promised in the previous post, pictures of the meal have arrived! It was a huge success, getting rave reviews from everyone (my wife and myself)!
We prepared these burgers from scratch! It was very interesting, and they were stuffed with mushroom, pickles, and cheese!
Just after preparing the patties and before they started cooking -
Cook baby cook….
End product (lil asaf the pic is not that clear) -
