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

Since the opening of Citystars, Nasr City’s
shopping crowds have shifted to some extent from the popular street shops like
Abbas El Akkad to the shiny mega mall. However, the neighbourhood still has
other strong contenders with a lot to offer and cheaper prices, such as the
multi-functional Serag Mall.

Located on Atteya El Swalhy Street, an extension of Makram Ebeid Street. El Serag Mall’s three interconnected
buildings contain a lot more than their exteriors
appear to hold. A number of fast food chains can be spotted outside of the
mall such as MacDonald’s, KFC and an outdoorsy Hardees. Besides the cafés and
restaurants lined near the front doors, one of the two Nasr City
branches of El Mahmal Supermarket can be accessed from both outside or inside
the mall.

Once inside, the first thing you may notice is the huge number of mobile
shops selling every brand and model of new and used cell phones and their
accessories. The mall is also known to many Apple users as one of the few
places where you can repair or accessories your Apple gadget without getting
ripped off. The mall also has shops that sell iPads.

For clothes shopping take the stairs down one floor. Clustered around a
couple of cafeterias is the clothes shopping area including the Champs Elysees Street,
a seemingly endless straight line of shops that actually link the three
buildings together. Most of the shops here sell local brands, but some actually
offer very good material and display ‘All Items Under 100LE’ or ‘Jeans for 50LE’
signs to attract shoppers.

To balance things off, the mall also hosts a number of brand outlets such
as Springfield,
Mobacco, Wave and Daniel Hechter. However, the items at these shops suspiciously
differ in quality from other branches.

Going up one floor, there are many other clothing, accessories and gift
shops ranging in prices and quality. Every floor has a number of silver shops
as well as at least three or four shops advertising ‘Everything For 2.5 LE,’ which
are probably responsible for El Serag’s popularity. They sell all kinds of
purchasable goods from coffee mugs and toys to fake Lacoste bags.

Besides clothes and veil shops, the underground floor boasts a small but
entertaining amusement park for kids, with water games and rides suitable for children
around the age of five, and a video game room for older kids. The area is full
of kids clothing shops and colourful toy shops.

Besides the endless number of shops that pop up whenever you think the
mall has come to an end, the top floor also hosts a cinema with several
screening rooms. It’s also usually very easy to find car parking right in front
of the mall entrance, and you are guaranteed to either find whatever you need
for a cheaper price in moderately good quality compared to other malls and
outlets.