In 1896, three years after they opened their first European department store in Vienna, Austro-Hungarian businessmen Leon Orosdi and Hermann Back inaugurated a large branch in Egypt. Little did they know that, a century later, their Middle East flagship would play centre stage on two key local issues: privatisation and architectural preservation.

The six-story rococo building housing the Omar Effendi department store, designed in 1905-6 by Frenchman Raoul Brandon stands at the corner of Sultan Abdel Aziz and Rushdi Pasha Streets. When it was still a private sector company and Cairo’s buildings rarely rose above six floors, the glass globe above the building could be seen several kilometres away as it revolved its powerful searchlight beckoning wide-eyed patrons.