The Al Khobar Branch of Susie Kimball's Store

When asked, "Do you remember Susie Kimball's," I'm willing to bet that at least 95% of you will have no clue. The rest of you will immediately smile with a far away look in your eyes, remembering a time that doesn't seem as long ago as it actually was.

It was a time when Main Street in Sultan, WA was lined with lively, thriving businesses and activities. Although it was a little town of less than 2,500 people, you could find a movie theater, hardware stores, restaurants, shoe repair shops, doctor offices, and a bank. As opposed to the hit and miss service we get today, you would be given exceptional customer service in nearly all the businesses. Any where you turned, you'd be greeted with a friendly, neighborly face, as well as plenty of good ole' small town gossip thrown in for free. And...you would find Susie Kimball's general store.

I can scarcely remember Susie's store - I was still quite a little girl when it closed it's doors for the last time. I do remember that I LOVED going to that store, however. I can picture Susie, her white hair so neatly wound in a bun, standing behind the counter. Looking down, there were creaky, old wood floors that if I recall, were not even remotely level. There were only a couple aisles in the whole place but they were packed with every odd and end you could possibly imagine. My brother and I never felt we had enough time to explore the store - there was just so much to see. If there was anything you needed, aside from grocery and hardware items, you always tried Susie Kimball's store first. Usually, it was the only stop you had to make.

Thirty-five years and 7,324 miles later, I found myself standing in Al Zamil's store in downtown Al Khobar last weekend. I had never spent much time in this store, previously known to me only as the "Michael's" craft store of Saudi Arabia. But that day, in an effort to banish the plain, rented Aramco curtains from our home, I was on a mission to find curtain rods long enough for our two sliding glass doors. To my astonishment, I was told to try Al Zamil's : apparently they had a small hardware section and would cut the rods to your precise measurements (more or less). While I was waiting for my rods to be cut, the three male members of our family explored the four-level store. I made a mental note to try to get everything I needed this on trip - I was sure that the boys would be so bored that it would be a huge ordeal to convince them I needed to return.

I couldn't have been more wrong. When I finally found all of them again, I heard simultaneously:

"This is the coolest store ever!"
"You can't believe all the stuff they have."
"I can't think of anything they don't have here."
"You should have seen the ...(insert any thing)... section."
"I want to come back with my wallet."
"I could explore forever and not see it all."
"Did you see...(again, insert any thing)...?"

And from the tallest one, "Doesn't this remind you of Susie Kimball's?"

After taking my time and looking around myself, I had to agree. It's the most comprehensive, general merchandise/craft store I have seen in decades. Granted, it's about ten times the size of Susie's store, but it's every bit as disorganized, dusty and varied. AlZamil's has everything from fabric...to door bells, craft paper...to science laboratory supplies, custom Styrofoam shape cutting service...to office supplies, spools of ribbon...to nifty key chains, bean bag filling...to Christmas tree lights (yes, in June and in a Muslim country), and every type of glue known to man...to wigs. Mostly "crafty" things I would have to admit, but then you notice something so out of place you have to do a double take, such as Bunsen burners.

In many aspects, I anticipated life to come full circle. I expected to be taken back to my childhood through my boys' eyes on Christmas day. I always knew that one day I would care for my elderly grandmothers, as they did for me when I was a child. I knew when I signed Michael up for piano lessons I would be nagging him to practice, just as I was nagged so long ago. I did not expect to relive the joy of exploring Susie Kimball's store. What a delightful surprise!