Stop Me And Buy One is the nickname given by Shelagh, one of our dearest friends, to one of Dubai's oldest supermarkets and best known landmarks, Park and Shop.
Located on the Al Wasl Road, it is actually a small development of shops called Al Safa Centre although, everybody knows it as Park and Shop
At this point a quick tip for Dubai Newbies. If you hail a cab and ask for Park and Shop and the taxi driver stares at you with a blank expression.... don't get in! It means he has only been in Dubai a short while and you are likely to have a much longer and more expensive journey than you had anticipated!
In 1993, when we first arrived in Dubai, Park and Shop was literally on the edge of town, being located on the outskirts of Jumeirah, one of Dubai's plush residential districts. Indeed, we lived exactly opposite in the Sheikh Ahmed Villas. Back then we were separated from Park and Shop by large sand dunes and the boys from the shop used to help my wife by carrying her shopping bags over the dunes, back to the house. Now thats what I call customer service. Can you imagine, back in U.K., the bloke from Asda carrying your shopping home for you?
Today, our old villa is still there, the sand dunes have gone but the very happy memories of our early Dubai life remain
When you enter Park and Shop not much has changed over the years. If you need something, Park and Shop has that uncanny knack of having it in stock and you are always assured of that personal touch.
The complex also houses my barbers of 25 years, the aptly named "Wafi Gents Saloon" and whilst newcomers might be a little wary to enter, once inside the service is snappy and the guys are really friendly.
They never ask me what I want, I just sit in the chair and they get on with it. What more does a gentleman want!
Finally, Baskin Robbins has been serving ice cream from this location for as long as we have been living in Dubai and indeed Abdul Aziz is still working behind the counter.He has seen our kids grow up and even after 25 years, he still greets you with the same enthusaisam. Thank goodness some things never change.
As this is the start of my my personal photo blog, you will forgive me for indulging myself with a few pictures and special memories of days gone by.
You see, life moves so fast when living in Dubai and it is only now that I have started to realize that if I don't start recording some of our family's history, it will just remain a memory.
You know, they keep threatening to re-develop Park and Shop and replace it with a new modern shopping complex. Well, we have plenty of those in Dubai and my sincere hope is that in this instance, progress grinds to a shuddering halt, the past remains the present and that Stop Me and Buy One goes on for another 25 years!