LA_MERC_Dirge
September 10th, 2005, 01:12 PM
Kuwaiti sheikh to help New Orleans
Add another far-flung spot that’s helping New Orleans. A ritzy shopping mall in Kuwait City will donate one-day’s worth of the mall’s proceeds to help the flood-ravaged city.
The owner of the mall, Sheikh Majed al-Sabah, said "We as a whole Kuwaiti nation will never, ever forget the time when the U.S. sent all their troops in 1991 to liberate my country. Many U.S. troops died for the sake of liberating my country and this is totally unforgettable."
Majed is not only the nephew of the ruling Kuwaiti emir, but he’s an accomplished retailer who’s been called “the sheikh of chic.” His glass tower waterfront shopping center called Villa Moda houses ultra-high end retail shops. A Travel + Leisure magazine article in 2002 called it a “see-through society playground” in which patrons “relax on white leather couches beneath the atrium's 65-foot-high ceiling (and) make calls on their platinum-and-sapphire Vertu cell phones (cost: $21,240).”
Although there’s no word on how much money could be raised through the one-day event, it could be considerable, given the money spent at the center. One report said the average customer spends $600 per trip, and makes three trips per week.
In an e-mail, Majed said he will turn the proceeds over to the U.S. Embassy, which will handle disbursement. He said he is striving to get American schools, companies and others involved in his effort.
“It’s my pleasure to be as supportive as I can to help the victims of New Orleans,” he wrote.
Add another far-flung spot that’s helping New Orleans. A ritzy shopping mall in Kuwait City will donate one-day’s worth of the mall’s proceeds to help the flood-ravaged city.
The owner of the mall, Sheikh Majed al-Sabah, said "We as a whole Kuwaiti nation will never, ever forget the time when the U.S. sent all their troops in 1991 to liberate my country. Many U.S. troops died for the sake of liberating my country and this is totally unforgettable."
Majed is not only the nephew of the ruling Kuwaiti emir, but he’s an accomplished retailer who’s been called “the sheikh of chic.” His glass tower waterfront shopping center called Villa Moda houses ultra-high end retail shops. A Travel + Leisure magazine article in 2002 called it a “see-through society playground” in which patrons “relax on white leather couches beneath the atrium's 65-foot-high ceiling (and) make calls on their platinum-and-sapphire Vertu cell phones (cost: $21,240).”
Although there’s no word on how much money could be raised through the one-day event, it could be considerable, given the money spent at the center. One report said the average customer spends $600 per trip, and makes three trips per week.
In an e-mail, Majed said he will turn the proceeds over to the U.S. Embassy, which will handle disbursement. He said he is striving to get American schools, companies and others involved in his effort.
“It’s my pleasure to be as supportive as I can to help the victims of New Orleans,” he wrote.