Startup of the Week: The Shed: Perfect spot to meet and greet

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• The cafe offers 150 board games that give the brain a workout and promote healthy competition

Many of us would love to find a cafe that not only offers good food and coffee but the space to complete our projects in a friendly environment.
With this idea in mind The Shed opened its doors last October in Alkhobar. Those who frequent the place consider it a special spot that combines fun with coffee and, in addition, promotes social networking.    
The Shed is a social space that was launched with the idea of renewing the importance of communication and contact among people and allowing them to share fun and interesting activities such as board games, reading, workshops and a room to pursue one’s creative pursuits.
The cafe offers 150 board games that give the brain a workout and promote healthy competition. A reading room allows visitors to enjoy the work of their favorite authors while sipping on world-renowned Arabic coffee. There is a dedicated room for meetings, and creative workshops where people can hold brainstorming sessions. The coloring room at the cafe allows visitors to paint and relax.
Good things, however, do not come for free. People who wish to spend quality time at the cafe have to pay a nominal fee of SR40 ($11), which gives them access to board games for two hours. Game guides are on hand to help visitors choose the right games and understand the rules.
The fee to enter the coloring and drinks rooms is separate. These rooms can be reserved for one person or 12 to enjoy coloring. The Shed also organizes workshops and sessions for arts. Prices to participate in these workshops range between SR99 and SR150.  
Abeer Al-Zubaidi, 30, is a graphic designer and a mother of two. She took her passion and love to create The Shed, along with her husband. The idea for the project started underneath the shed of their house in October 2018, and The Shed came to life a year later.
Al-Zubaidi said: “After we got married and moved from Jeddah we were surprised by the people of the Eastern Province, who prefer to stick to the people they already knew and we lacked an opportunity to expand our acquaintance circle. This is where the idea came from and we were inspired to expand the circle of people who come over to our house every weekend. We called it ‘The Shed’ as the shed is a traditional shaded space, where neighbors used to meet back in the old times, usually made of date palm leaves.”
The idea behind the cafe was to blend the past with the present. The architecture of the place also represented the same idea, as most of its sections are made of palm leaves to give it a traditional Arab touch, she explained.
“We wanted to combine the past with the present in this beautiful space and establish the Arab identity in it. Friends of The Shed are people who are passionate about learning and developing and are looking for an inspiring place to do so. We want to be the shed of every person wishing to develop and educate themselves to benefit society.”
She added that, in light of the precautionary and preventive measures adopted to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, The Shed was closed until the end of the Kingdom’s curfew. The Shed has reopened and is abiding by the requirements of the Health Ministry to ensure everyone’s safety.
“We are committed to taking every visitor’s temperature, wearing face masks, respecting social distancing, receiving a limited number of visitors, disinfecting the place regularly and requiring visitors to pay electronically and wear the gloves provided by The Shed.”