Thursday, May 30, 2013

Cosmetics In KZ


The other day I was siting next to a lady on my flight back home, and as normal we started talking about life in Kazakhstan... and eventually our discussion turned towards fake products. Now it is quite common to find fake products at the markets in almost every country. But to my surprise, she mentioned that she bought a high-end product from a local cosmetics store that specialise in upper-end products and found it to be a fake! She mentioned that she was using this specific product line for many years and immediately could feel that the consistency of the product was not right. Imagine paying top dollar (everything is overpriced here) for a product and finding out it is not even the real thing!

I was quite surprised to which retailer she referred to...as  I am also a frequent customer of that establishment, and worst of all, I have bought many gifts for friends from that retailer across Almaty.

Since then, I have been made aware by various local friends that you could easily end up buying a fake product from a legitimate store... I am not talking about kiosks at the markets, but actual stores in shopping centres. Now it could easily be that the retailer changed suppliers and was unaware of the inferior quality.
Personally, I do not think that supply chain management is a strong aspects in corporate cultures of especially retailers here in Kazakhstan.... and it is just plain stupidity when retailers do not buy brands from the recommended supplier!

One option that many foreigners take is the "wait until you are back home" option, but this is not always practical. So, this had me thinking, where can I buy cosmetics and minimise the fear of paying a high-end price for an inferior product.  Having raised this question with various local friends, the best suggested I got was Strawberrynet.
Strawberry.net guarantees that they only supply original items, and their prices look good too!!



Sunday, May 26, 2013

What's on Almaty Facebook page

The "What's on Almaty" group on Facebook is a very helpful group for the English speaking community in Almaty. Here you can get information about events happening in Almaty and also ask questions or post  reviews. There is also a sister group called "Marketplace Almaty" ideal for selling items or ideas, renting posting jobs, and all other things that you would like to offer to the community.

The "What's on Almaty" group is having a get-together on the 29th of May at Cafe de Paris starting from 19:00, and everyone is invited to join and meet like-minded individuals.
For more information check out the Facebook page of "What's on Almaty" & "Marketplace Almaty"

Friday, May 24, 2013

The Next Central Asian Craft Fair is on the 1&2 June, 2013

The next craft fair held at the Central Museum, will showcase artisans from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, and will be on the 1st and 2nd of June 2013 in Almaty.  




There will be a lot of souvenirs, items made of silk, felt, leather and other textiles, as well as jewellery, clothes, ceramics and carpets.
Entrance is 100Kzt per person. 

Central State Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Almaty
Samal-1, 44, (Furmanov str. аbove Satpaev str.)
OPENING TIME: 10.00-18.00
Tel: 8(727)264 46 50, 8(727)264 55 66.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Astana Economic Forum

This year's Astana Economic Forum will be held from the 22nd of May to the 24th of May.

This forum was initiated  by President Nazarbayev in 2008. The goal of this economic forum is to bring together intellectuals to address possible solutions to the present-day economic, financial and social challenges of our world.

The main topics for this event are as follows:

- Commodity price settings and economic growth in 2013

- Infrastructure, innovation and technology

- Global competitiveness

- Social development

-Financial systems, risk and policy response

It is said that over 8 500 delegates from over a 100 countries would participate in this event.This forum also facilitates informal meetings between various businesses and the delegates and visitors of this event.