Tag: Grand Bazaar

Las Vegas mall modeled on Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar

This artist’s rendering provided the developer shows Grand Bazaar Shops, a new Las Vegas mall. Sin City, where everything must mirror something else, is getting the new mall modeled on Turkey’s Grand Bazaar. Construction on the Grand Bazaar Shops began this week and it will open outside of Bally’s hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip in fall, 2014. (AP Photo: Grand Bazaar Shops)

LAS VEGAS — Las Vegas, where the only design rule seems to be that everything must mirror something else, is getting a new mall modeled on Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar.

Construction began this week on the Grand Bazaar Shops outside of Bally’s Las Vegas Hotel and Casino. The 2-acre outdoor mall is expected to open next fall on the corner of Flamingo Road and Las Vegas Boulevard, in the heart of the Strip.

Developer Larry Siegel describes the project as a sanitized, glitzed-out version of a traditional Middle Eastern market.

“They’re really interesting places where people can gather, and it’s a real experience in terms of sights and sounds and smells. That’s what we’re trying to create here in a more sophisticated, modern way,” he said.

The walking mall will feature a spice market, a butcher shop and the first Swarovski store that will allow customers to haggle over crystals.

Other hyper-specific themes rolled out on the Strip this year include an Eastern European glass factory-themed theater and a China-themed casino, which is expected to include a replica of the Great Wall of China and house live pandas.

The Grand Bazaar Shops will consist of about 150 small retail spaces, half of which have already been leased. It will be competing with several other Strip malls, including the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace, with about 160 stores, and the Miracle Mile Shops at the Planet Hollywood casino, with 170 stores.

The Bazaar team is not alone in betting on increased interest in Las Vegas retail. Last month, the Treasure Island hotel-casino announced it would end its free pirate show to make way for new shops, which are also expected to open in the fall of 2014.

Business has never been better at Strip malls, according to David Hoenemeyer, president of Bally’s, Paris and Planet Hollywood, all owned by Caesars Entertainment Corp.

“The customer these days is looking for more than the gaming experience,” he said. “The customer’s changed, and though gaming may be on their mind, it’s not always on the forefront.”

It remains to be seen whether tourists will brave the 107 degree heat common in the Las Vegas summer to shop at stores they could find at indoor malls a few casinos over. Hoenemeyer insists that misters will make up the difference, and says in any case, it’s dry heat.

If the concept works, Siegel, who’s developed malls in Canada and Spain, says he plans to open Grand Bazaars in other cities.

“I think people will come from all over Las Vegas and beyond to experience this,” he said.

via Las Vegas mall modeled on Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar | Finance & Commerce.

December 8, 2013
Top 5 things to do in Istanbul

Istanbul is one of those cities that leaves everyone who’s been there hankering to go back. But if you’re about to make your first appearance, here are five things you won’t want to miss.

Istanbul’s Blue Mosque. Photo / Megan Singleton

1. Aya Sofia or Hagia Sophia – This is the most breathtaking building in all of Istanbul. Originally built as St Sophia orthodox cathedral in the 6th century, it had the largest dome in all of Christendom and pure gold mosaics on the walls. In the 15th century it became a mosque and Muslim symbols were added. Today it is a museum with artefacts and mosaics dating to its beginning.

2. The Grand Bazaar – This 600 year old market is a maze of 60 covered streets crammed with 5000 vendors selling everything from antique rugs, glass lamps, ceramic bowls, leather coats, jewellery, cushion covers and more. Get your game face on and prepare to haggle – over a cup of hot apple tea. But the quality of goods can be amazing. Remember, the old adage is true, you get what you pay for. Oh, and James Bond rode his motorbike through here on Skyfall.

3. The Spice Market – Start here for your first foray into the world of doing business Turkish style.

It’s smaller than the Grand Bazaar but no less skill is demanded. You’ll find piles of dried spices and tea and plenty of fresh Turkish delight and other shops selling some of what the Bazaar sells. But the best thing is, you can declare your vacuum-packed spices and bring them home.

4. The Blue Mosque – The main mosque in Istanbul, Sultan Ahmed Mosque, is located near Aya Sofia in the tourist area of Sultanahmet. Nicknamed for its 20,000 handmade blue Iznik tiles, this is the mosque that pilgrims try to get to once in their lifetime. The public can enter and take photos. Scarves are provided for women and shoes are carried in plastic bags.

5. A Turkish Bath – Probably the most eye-popping experience you can have as a traveller. Pay for the works including the bath, massage and hair wash and prepare to leave your modesty at the door as you are scrubbed with a mitt by a middle-aged Turkish woman (in the women’s hamam that is), soaped up like a car and sloughed down with bowls of warm water until your skin is soft and smooth.

bloggeratlarge.com

– nzherald.co.nz

By Megan Singleton

via Top 5 things to do in Istanbul – Travel – NZ Herald News.

February 16, 2013
Turkey: Carpet buying at Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar

Inside Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar. Photo / Simon Winter

“My friend, Kia Ora. I have a cousin living in New Zealand. Come in and have some tea. There is no pressure to buy”.

Ha, ha, ha. “No pressure to buy”. Tea and rugs… it sounds so inviting. Welcome to the carpet market at Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar.

Step inside the rug seller’s den however, and there’s a new reality. You’re no longer wandering in the carpet bazaar. You’re now in a rug shop, caged and about to be set upon in a style which, for the uninitiated, can be extremely intimidating. Make no mistake, these guys are pros – at manipulation, persuasion and doing a deal.

In many cases, they’re also son con artists. After hours reading all sorts of horrors stories on internet forums, where clueless victims vent about paying $10,000 for a $300 rug “and how can I get our money back?”, we ventured into the Grand Bazaar.

Of course there is much more there to bargain for than just carpets, so we agreed. On the first day no entering, just looking. When my extremely risk-averse partner said, “Lets go inside” to the second carpet seller that approached us ( I glanced at her in shock), I’m filled with fear, mixed with excitement of the unknown.

We’ve just stepped on the roller coaster.

So in we go… and the small talk begins. Then the designs, sizes, patterns, shapes, the education… and finally, the tea.

“Would you like some apple tea?” the man asked. Ten minutes in, like thousands before us, we’ve been sucked in, surrounded by half-a-dozen assistants and more than a dozen rugs covering the floor. In fact we’re blocked. The charm offensive is in full flow and though technically we can walk out at anytime, in reality few do. It’s impolite… and besides, the best part’s about to start!

No prices have been discussed but because we’re thrifty backpackers we choose a 1 metre by 1.5m adornment from “eastern Turkey”, painstakingly woven over many hours, with a tight thread, authenticated blah, blah, blah. It’s the smallest rug in the room. There are many disapproving looks.

We sit down. Still no price. So I ask: “What’s the price for this one?”

The response: “Here is your tea.”

Our salesman talks about New Zealand. He has a “friend” who works in a Turkish restaurant in Wellington. He used to be a rug seller. Then the details become vague.

I sip my cold apple tea. In sweltering Istanbul it tastes good. There are seven people staring at us. Still no price. So I ask again. And this time it comes. 4500 lira.

In my head, time stops. First thought: “What the ****? That’s over €2000.” To my right, where my partner sits, there is silence.

My body temperature has soared, momentary panic. The guy wants a response. Our rug budget did have a “2” in front of it. Hmmm.

I can hear another voice in my head, the one from the internet forums. “Welcome to the game, Sonny.” I offer my response: “We don’t have any jobs”.

He cuts the price in half – 2250 lira, still over €1000. He can’t go much further, he says.

I feel trapped. Our price is so low – it’s an embarrassment to offer. He wants a price. Then a squeak from my right. Is Lisa making a bid? “We don’t want to disrespect you,” she says.

“No disrespect,” the seller says. “This is business. You make me price.”

She whispers to me, “I think we should leave.”

The seller turns the heat. “You no leave, you make price. What is your price?”

Whatever happened to “no pressure to buy?” A price seems our only way out. His is 2500 lira. I make the offer: 500 lira. It’s my top (and only) price. Air in the room evaporates.

It’s clearly offensive. There’s wounded looks everywhere and we’ve wasted this poor man’s time. He’s muttering. He wanted €2000, we’ve offered barely 200.

We make to leave.

“Wait”, he says. “I go see my boss”.

More tea. Five minutes later the rug is ours – if we want it.

“Inshallah” comes the voice of this new man. “Inshallah.”

“Sometimes you must help those less well off,” he tells us. “I can see you people are good. I hope you will tell New Zealand people all about us.”

In “business”, only one thing means more to carpet sellers than their beloved rugs – cash, preferably in the hand. For every rug sold to paupers like us, half-a-dozen victims are sucked into paying way over the odds. It all evens out – in the sellers’ favour.

The boss pushes again: “We have deal, yes”?

Maybe our rug is a great bargain but it doesn’t feel right. An authentic 2000 euro rug the owner’s willing to sell for 200? Are these guys that cheeky? I just don’t believe him.

I tell the man we’ll be back but know we won’t. Was our carpet really from eastern Turkey? And should I have bargained lower – what would he have taken? The answer is, I don’t know the first thing about carpets.

The ignorance and romanticism of those venturing into the carpet bazaar allows the locals to thrive. No doubt I would have loved my Turkish rug (or Chinese rug or whatever it was), with much regaling of this story down the years.

But, in the end, I’ll probably love a fluffy imported number from Briscoes on the lounge floor just as much.

Simon Winter is a former nzherald.co.nz news editor. He and partner Lisa have been backpacking through Europe since April.

– nzherald.co.nz

By Simon Winter

via Turkey: Carpet buying at Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar – Travel – NZ Herald News.

November 23, 2012
Kirsten Dunst Shops At Grand Bazaar On Her Day Off In Turkey

Even stars like a good deal!

And Kirsten Dunst was no exception on a recent shopping trip in Turkey, where the 30-year-old actress paid a visit to the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul and spent time deciding on a jewelry purchase.

According to reports, the Spider-Man star spent four hours at the shopping center and left after buying an $80 ring. The actress wore a simple green jacket, jeans and boots for her afternoon outing, as she soaked up the Turkish sights and culture.

Kirsten Dunst stuns at real-life best friend’s wedding

Dunst is in currently on location in Turkey shooting her new film, The Two Faces of January, a 1960s-era thriller written and directed by Hossein Amini.

The film—which also stars Viggo Mortensen and Oscar Isaac—is set to hit theaters in December of next year.

via Kirsten Dunst Shops At Grand Bazaar On Her Day Off In Turkey | E! Online.

November 15, 2012
Blog: Where to eat in Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar

Where to eat in Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar

Visitors come to the Grand Bazaar for the shopping, but they should make a point of staying for the food – the market makes an atmospheric backdrop for great restaurants where locals eat

• This post first appeared on the Culinary Backstreets blog

• Know a great place to eat in Istanbul? Add a comment

Gaziantep Burç Ocakbaşi, Istanbul

Gaziantep Burç Ocakbaşi restaurant in Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar. Photograph: Melanie Einzig

We like to think of Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar – open since 1461 – as the world’s oldest shopping mall. If that’s the case, shouldn’t the Grand Bazaar be home to the world’s oldest food court? That may be stretching the analogy a little too far, but for us the Grand Bazaar is as much of a food destination as a shopping one.

As we see it, one of the hidden pleasures of going to the bazaar (once you get past the overzealous shopkeepers hawking souvenirs) is exploring some of its quieter back alleys and interior courtyards for new dining possibilities, especially some of the smaller restaurants that cater not to tourists but rather to the locals who work in the sprawling marketplace. Here are three of our favourite places.

Gaziantep Burç Ocakbaşi

A friend directed us to Gaziantep Burç Ocakbaşi and we are forever in her debt. Located on a narrow side street off one of the Grand Bazaar’s busy thoroughfares, this unassuming grill house serves up very tasty food from Gaziantep, a city in south-east Turkey, that is considered one of the country’s culinary capitals.

Our ali nazik, tender morsels of marinated beef sitting on a bed of garlicky yogurt-eggplant purée, was perfect. The delicious salad served with it, topped with chopped walnuts and zingy pomegranate molasses, was impeccably fresh. We were even more excited about the restaurant’s speciality: extremely flavourful dolmas made out of dried eggplants and red peppers that had been rehydrated and stuffed with a rice and herb mixture, then served with yogurt on the side.

There are only a few tables, which are lined up along the length of the alleyway that is the restaurant’s home. The ambiance is provided by the strings of dried eggplant and peppers that hang above the tables, the smoke and sizzle coming from the grill and the thrum of bazaar activity all around.

• Parçacilar Sokak 12, +90 212 527 1516. Open 11am-4pm, closed Sunday

Kara Mehmet Kebap Salonu

Kara Mehmet Kebap Salonu, Istanbul Photograph: Melanie Einzig

This is one of our favourite places, not only in the Grand Bazaar but in all of Istanbul. The restaurant, a tiny hole in the wall, serves the usual assortment of kebabs – including, for the daring, kidney and liver – all expertly grilled by the mustachioed usta. A testament to the appeal of Kara Mehmet: we went there with a vegetarian friend who was so taken with the restaurant’s adana kebab that he ended up taking his first bite of meat in 30 years.

Food aside, what really draws us to Kara Mehmet is its location, deep inside the open-air courtyard of the Cebeci Han, one of the Grand Bazaar’s numerous out-of-the-way caravanserais. Compared to the bustle of the rest of the bazaar, the Cebeci Han is an oasis of calm, mostly filled with small shops where people repair rugs, rather than sell them. Even the owner of the one actual rug shop inside the courtyard seems more interested in playing backgammon with his friends than moving carpets. When you’re done with your kebab, order Kara Mehmet’s delicious künefe for dessert and a tea from the small teahouse next door and enjoy the behind-the-scenes look at bazaar life.

• İç Cebeci Han 92, +90 212 513 5520. Open 11am-5pm, closed Sunday

Aynen Dürüm

Aynen Dürüm, Istanbul Photograph: Yigal Schleifer

Aynen Dürüm is a microscopic kebab shack near the Grand Bazaar’s “currency exchange” (essentially a small alley filled with men shouting out “buy” and “sell” orders) that serves exceptionally good dürüm, or wraps. We were first struck by the feeding frenzy we saw at the tiny restaurant, where a crowd of hungry locals was chowing down with a kind of reckless abandon rarely seen in other places around town. The setup reminded us of a competitive eating contest: a double-sided outdoor counter with about 10 stools around it and a trough in the middle that holds containers overflowing with grilled peppers, sliced pickles and sprigs of parsley.

The tiny interior, meanwhile, is taken up by a charcoal grill and İsmail, the joint’s grill master, who has been fanning the flames here for 10 years. The no-nonsense İsmail takes the wrap business seriously, letting customers choose between two different kinds of lavaş (flatbread): the traditional thin variety and a thicker, chewier version. İsmail clearly sets the bar high. His restaurant’s tagline? “The Motherland of Kebab.”

We found some space at Aynen’s counter and ordered a dürüm of Adana kebab and another made with lamb shish kebab, leaving the choice of lavaş up to the griller. Our wraps arrived within minutes, each stuffed with a mixture of tomato and parsley along with the perfectly grilled meat. The Adana had a wonderful balance of meat, fat and spice, while the small morsels of tender lamb inside the second wrap were so tasty that we soon found ourselves joining the crowd and stuffing our faces with little regard for decorum.

• Muhafazacılar Sokak 29, +90 212 527 4728. Open 7am-6pm, closed Sunday

via Blog: Where to eat in Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar | Travel | guardian.co.uk.

September 28, 2012
Postcard from Laura: Helping out the Turkish economy

Istanbul, Turkey, July 28: This morning our Road Scholar group toured the main monuments such as Hagia Sophia and the famed Blue Mosque, along with a few other lesser known sites in Istanbul. The market for me and Martha was the best site, and also the most exciting. We could really see the locals and the action of the city.

In the Egyptian Market, all sorts of hawkers were selling their goods and wares, and we were in heaven. It could have been a little unnerving, however, to find our way back to the Road Scholar group as there were more than 60 alley-like streets and just as many entrances, which all started to look the same. Because I am the leader, I had to be back before the group meeting time of 1 p.m. So, we walked from the motor coach to one of the entrances leaving a bread crumb-like trail behind us. We entered at the perfume and spice area, turned left at the marble fountain, past the man selling scarves for $8 each —the grumpy man we would need to come back to — and straight past the ceramics salesman to the shop with the handmade jewelry. I had been here about two years ago and was thankful that, in this time, they had not changed their location and, moreover, that my brain’s GPS system was working clearly this morning. Here, Martha bought an exquisite embroidered choker necklace that matched most of her coral-colored summer clothing.

via Postcard from Laura: Helping out the Turkish economy – Rockford, IL – Rockford Register Star.

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August 5, 2012