Turkish Delights

Be transported to an Istanbul street market November 3–5 with a visit to the Turkish Bazaar.

It’s time for one of the most exotic events of the year—the annual Turkish Bazaar, where Linda Hall shares the bounty of her most recent visit to Turkey with all of Morgantown at prices no other retailer can touch.

Hall has visited Turkey regularly since 1999, most recently with her husband, Micheal, in September. They stayed at a long familiar hotel in Istanbul and had the same driver, Becer, that Hall has had for the past 15 years. She’s gotten to know lots of people during her many visits. “I can go to a restaurant in Morgantown, and nobody even knows me,” she laughs, “and I go there and the whole crew comes around asking, ‘How are you? How are you?’” An important part of each visit is to deliver gifts for school children—crayons, pencils and pencil sharpeners, toothbrushes, and school supplies. 

Things have changed in the quarter century Hall has been visiting. Istanbul is becoming more touristy, she says, and the character of the city and its markets is shifting, with fewer local artisans and more items sourced from elsewhere. “Still, we had a good time, and the food is wonderful and the people are so friendly and so nice,” she says. “It’s still my favorite place I’ve ever been.”

Inflation is high right now, and her longstanding relationships help her in that regard. “They realize that I try to buy at the best price—I don’t haggle with them. And I think they appreciate my business over the years and try to do the best they can for me.” 

So this fall’s Turkish Bazaar will have the same great prices as always. “I have things that start at $1,” Hall says. “The majority, 95%, are $15 or less.” And it will have the perennial favorites that keep people coming back again and again. “I have the silk and silk gossamer scarf, that’s always been $15 and will still be $15,” she says. “I still have the pearls—that’s one of my real loves.” Go early if you want to get Turkish towels—they’re always in high demand. 

This bazaar will also showcase some new finds and some extraordinary prices:   

• “When rugs are so worn that they can’t be repaired any longer, they make little coin bags from the parts that are still in good condition, and those are very nice,” Hall says. “They’re $10 for a nice little wristlet.” 
• She’s excited about some new scarves. “They’re made of bamboo fabric, and they’re 2 yards long by 1 yard, yet they go down to nothing. They’re lovely, sort of a crinkled-type scarf, and they’re just $8.” 
• She also has some new larger scarves or shawls for $30. 
• “I thought I’d been there, seen it all, done it all, but I learned something new on this trip,” she adds. “There was a stone that I hadn’t heard of in one of the shops—zultanite. It’s only found in that area. It sort of changes depending on the light, very pretty.” The bazaar will have zultanite jewelry at various prices.
• And there will be handbags for well-below-market prices. “At the end of every season there’s a sale, and what you would pay $100 for retail, the wholesale price would be $50, but during their special sale, it would be $25—so I’m going to have some very nice brand-name purses for less than what wholesale would be.”

There’s also a particular treat this year: Hall is adding about 15 vintage and antique rugs to the sale from her own collection.

As always, attendees will be asked for a minimum $1 donation at the door for the Community Kitchen. “Some people give their $1, some put $5 in, some put $20,” Hall says. “I usually collect $800 to $900 for Morgantown Community Kitchen.”

The Turkish Bazaar is next Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, November 3–5, at Euro-Suites Hotel, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day.

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