A Visit to the Appliance Store

We got a ride downtown today with a friend to do some appliance shopping.  Last year, I mentioned our bad experience with a blender.  We decided to get a quality unit this year.  After checking costs and selection at Carrefour previously, we decided to try looking in the appliance district.  Retail space in Cairo is arranged by category with lamp vendors all gathering on one street, nut vendors on another etc.  Our friend took us through the bicycle district (sorry I didn't get pictures of that) and into the several blocks of appliances.  It is a bit overwhelming to look down the block and see this scene.



This man is moving a refrigerator.  They are quite a bit smaller and lighter here than at home.


We tried several shops to get an idea of blender prices and features.  At this shop, the boxes were stacked to at least twelve feet high.  Don't expect anyone in the store to ever go a stockroom in Egypt.  All the inventory is in plain sight.  But don't worry if the shop doesn't have everything you want.  The owner will send a runner to a nearby store to get anything else you might like.


We found a rugged looking 1000watt French model and made our purchase.  While Linda was making her final selection, I wandered outside a bit to take more pictures.  This is another opportunity to see why "everything is different here."   Almost every shop had a large stack of these appliance frames standing out in front of the shop.  They are an adjustable 4-wheel frame that you place under your stove, refrigerator or washing machine.  That way, you can easily clean underneath when you mop/squeegee your tile floor.  We have one under the stove and without it, the stove would be about five inches below the adjacent cabinets.


You might also notice in that picture of the appliance frames that there is a plastic chair and a hubbly-bubbly shisha water pipe.  A good place for the owner to relax when there aren't any customers.