The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

In recent years we’ve seen Cairo’s shopping
scene open up to international brands with H&M, Zara and so many others
finally making their way to our humble Egyptian market. Among these brands that
started popping up all over the city was popular British accessories chain
Accessorize.

Located on Mohandiseen shopping hub Lebanon
Street, this branch is quite small – but aren’t most of them? There is nothing
that stands out about the shop; it literally looks like any other Accessorize
you might have visited. What struck us quite strongly more than the physical
interior however, was the radio that loudly played something that sounded like
a sermon – not the most suitable background for shopping.

At the time of our visit the new collection
was just barely being put up. The usual array of bracelets, necklaces and
earrings in gold, silver and colourful series drape the shop walls. The style
keeps within the same fashion as before but the summer collection has
especially ‘pretty’ motifs; with a lot of roses, hearts and soft pinks
incorporated.  The average price of
necklaces is between 60LE and 80LE, but prices can reach 155LE if the piece is
heavily decorated. Bracelets range between 60LE and 100LE and their bags average
at about 300LE to 400LE. Although this specific collection seemed a bit lacking
there was a nice one with a flowery pattern in dusty spring colours.

They also have sandals, a pair for 360LE,
but these were nothing special or new – though many could still find them
useful. They also have scarves, purses and rings – in other words everything
Accessorize is supposed to, or expected to, offer. Although the swimwear was
not up on the shelves yet, the employees confirmed that these are part of the
new collection along with cache maillots, definitely a promising prospect with
summer just round the corner.

A large portion of the shop is taken up by
a children’s section. As a whole, the items looked like a big mesh of pinks,
reds and glitter. Within the piles of girly sparkles, shoes, bathing suits and
jewellery could be detected. A sliver of a sales section hides behind the
children’s section, offering a moderate amount of items, considerably varied.

While we’re excited about the brand new
collection filling up the walls, there is still something about the collection
that causes us to wonder why there’s an underlying cheapness to the quality.
Accessorize has never sold itself as a high-end brand, but it seems the items
that come to this side of the world are less attentive to detail; the studs in one
particular ring were not uniform; they were differently shaped and glued almost
messily. However, with this being said, Accessorize will continue to be a main
stop on our hunt for fun accessories, offered in a generous variety.