Khazen

Business in Beirut’s Central District struggles to survive

by

Beirut Central District (BCD) is home to flagship stores of international high end retail brands such as Armani and Hermes; it is also where five star hotels such as The Four Seasons, Le Gray and Phoenicia are located, and where many restaurants and cafés, whether in Minet el-Hosn, Zaitunay Bay or Uruguay Street, can be found.

And yet, most of BCD has been a ghost town for the past five years, save for a few exceptional months. The inactivity has particularly affected the retail and hospitality sectors, the mainstay of the area, with few going to its restaurants, hotels and shops.

Hospitality sector figures

The footfall challenges experienced in BCD are not restricted to the hospitality sector alone, with the retail sector also suffering.

In fact, the entire hospitality sector in Lebanon has witnessed a drastic drop in consumers since 2010, according to Tony Ramy, president of the Syndicate of Owners of Restaurants, Cafes, Night Clubs and Patisseries in Lebanon.

Read more
Prisoner Swap Frees Lebanese Soldiers And IS Leader’s Ex-Wife
Here’s what the logos for Amazon, Levi’s, and HBO Go would say if they were being honest

Clif Dickens, a graphic designer from Nashville, started the Honest Slogans website, which re-imagines corporate logos to "honestly" portray their goods and services, off the back of a running joke with his friends about how waitresses always asked if Pepsi was okay every time he asked for a Coca-Cola.

His redesigned Pepsi logo kicked off the Honest Slogans blog in 2011. Dickens stresses they are for "entertainment purposes only" and told us in 2013 that while some may come across as "harsh," he hopes even employees of the brands he satirizes will see the blog as "tongue-in-cheek."

Read more