OUR STORY
Three years living in Turkey introduced us to many new and wonderful experiences. What started out as a one-year adventure travelling and living in Southern Turkey, turned into three years as we fell in love with all things Turkish; the people, the language, the landscape, food, culture and lifestyle. One of the highlights was discovering inspirational and beautiful Turkish products for the home: amazing handwoven blankets, rugs and throws, traditional Turkish towels (peshtemal, hammam or fouta towels), the Turkish çay samovar (tea maker), the soba (log burning stove), wooden gözleme (pancake) tables, orange/pomegranate juicers, tiffin tins, wooden biscuit moulds, Turkish lamps and lanterns and olive oil soap all quickly became features in our own home there.
When we eventually arrived back in the UK, we were shortly followed by a shipment of thirty two boxes of all our favourite Turkish belongings. I have to confess we couldn’t choose which of our collection of Turkish towels, rugs and throws to bring back….so they all came back! These have all now become an indispensable part of our home and life here in the UK.
So, this is where the idea for Pazaar emerged. Since our return to the UK, friends and family have visited us and we've shared our stories and experiences of life in Turkey. They have all left wanting their own handmade Turkish towel, throw, biscuit mould or olive oil soaps.
...and so the idea of sharing our experiences and creating our own Turkish market emerged.
Why are we called Pazaar ?
Our inspiration for the name Pazaar came from the word pazar, the Turkish word for market, and the English word bazaar, which originates from the Persian word bazar and is a Middle Eastern street market. Markets are an integral part of daily life in Turkey and are valuable community networks for the exchange of local goods, culture and information. So, Pazaar is our Turkish street market; an opportunity to share our favourite Turkish products with you and exchange some information and stories about them along the way.
We are learning as we grow
Keeping our website up-to-date and providing excellent customer service is really important to us, so if you have any problems with your orders or notice an error on the website, we would be grateful if you would let us know.
We love getting your ideas & comments
If you are interested in what we are doing, we'd love to hear from you, so do write to us here with your comments and suggestions. Maybe you have a favourite Turkish product that you think should be in our shop, some information or a story from Turkey that you would like to share.
We are in Turkey regularly to identify new products, and through this we are developing an amazing network of textile and craft makers to source our different products from. So, if there is something specific you would like us to track down for you from Turkey we are happy to arrange individual bespoke orders. Get in touch with us here on our contact us page.