A Blog by the Editor of The Middle East Journal

Putting Middle Eastern Events in Cultural and Historical Context

Monday, May 10, 2010

Qatar Buying Harrod's From Fayed

I'm sure the usual jokes about Gulf Arabs and their London shopping sprees will be forthcoming. Qatar has gone shopping at for Harrod's, now that Muhammad al-Fayed has decided to sell it. Qatar holdings, the small emirate's sovereign fund, is buying the famed department store for some £1.5 billion. The story's actually a couple of days old. Fayed, once a celebrity in his own right but now probably doomed to be remembered as the father of Dodi al-Fayed, who in turn will only be remembered as dying with Princess Diana, is of course of Egyptian origin, so the famed Knightsbridge store has been in Arab hands for years. Mostly I'm noting this for the record.

No comments: