The Grand Bazaar-inspired Bazaar Park in Tianjin, China sells Turkish products and offers Turkish exporters a unique opportunity to promote their products.
The store is the brainchild of Boğaziçi University graduate Lou Ke. Greatly impressed by the Turkish booth at the Shanghai EXPO 2010, Lou himself made an attempt to replicate the concept in the form of a store.
Bazaar Park was established in 2013 in an 800-square-meter store in a shopping mall and started selling products made in Turkey. The store exhibited thousands of products, from dried figs and porcelain to glass designs to pistachio. It also promoted tourism destinations in Turkey.
Once the store attracting more than 200,000 visitors, the space was inadequate and a new 2,000-square-meter store was opened in Tianjin.
Attending the seminar "Target Market: China," organized by the Aegean Exporters' Association, Bazaar Park founder Lou told Anadolu Agency (AA) that they sell goods in 10 different sections in the store. He added that the store's interior was inspired by Istanbul's Grand Bazaar. Lou said 500,000 Chinese people visit the new store per day, which opened in 2015.
Emphasizing that there is great interest in Turkish-made food products, porcelains, glassware and pistachios, Lou said: "The Chinese like products such as pistachio, figs, Turkish ice cream, leather jackets, rose water and Turkish delight. Moreover, some 50 tourism destinations in Turkey are also promoted in the store."
Pointing out that this concept is new for the Chinese market, Lou Ke said: "We aim to get people to visit our store to know Turkish culture and to like Turkey. To this end, we not only sell goods but also offer Karagöz shadow play performances and paper marbling performances. As a result, customers spend more time at Bazaar Park than at other stores. They stay on average of 20 minutes. For example, I distributed 27,000 cups of free Turkish tea to our customers for promotional purposes."
He said around 400,000 Chinese tourists have come to Turkey this year. Underlining that the number of Chinese tourists visiting Turkey soared by 60 percent, Lou Ke said: "I know that 100 million people from China want to visit Turkey. We believe that our activities at Bazaar Park have contributed to increasing numbers. With this store, we also aim to keep those visiting Turkey to maintain their ties. We work with 47 Turkish brands in our store. The turnover of these brands from China is increasing rapidly." Indicating that they will open another store at Beijing Daxing International Airport, Lou said a number of Turkish companies aspiring to enter the Chinese market have applied to them.
Aegean Exporters' Association Coordinating Chairman Jak Eskinazi indicated that they attach great importance to the Chinese market.
Explaining that they hold seminars for exporters to step into the Chinese market easily, Eskinazi said: "This is because the Chinese market is not like our traditional markets. There are differences. We have a deficit of $18 billion in trade with China. From time to time, we invite investors from China, with one of them being Mr. Lou Ke. He only sells Turkish products, which is an important opportunity for our exporters. We want to make the best of it."