The plethora of signs advertising ‘up to 70%’ discounts illustrates the sorry state of most clothing stores in Hamra. Gone are the rich tourists from the Gulf, Saudi Arabia and Egypt with a desire to stock up on the latest fashions in the area’s crowded streets and alleyways. With the number of foreign visitors very low and well to do Lebanese worried more than ever about the country’s political instability, conflicts in the region and their own uncertain future prospects, high spending customers have all but disappeared. As the owner of one independent men’s outfitter, which opened before the Civil War, said, “Since the January clashes between Hezbollah and Israel, business is the worst I have ever seen.” In different circumstances, the decline in the value of the euro and the recent removal of import tariffs on clothes sourced in the EU might have helped. In the current situation, however,
