Wholesale Edge of History - Ancient Wisdom - Giftware and Aromatherapy Supplier

Greetings from the edge of history.

We are in Istanbul, Turkey. Tomas, Raul and I took the trip pretty much on impulse because we heard about a huge textile trade show happening at the expo centre there. And since exchange rates are spectacular we thought maybe some bargains could be found for our customer... So on Wednesday we took Pegasus air from Manchester (not recommended) to Istanbul and a taxi to our hotel.

First impressions.. this is a massive city, modern and huge. It feels a little bit like a Chinese city. The next striking thing was the amount of flags, huge building sized flags draped everywear. The National flag of Turkey is everywhere, even over Mcdonalds. Was it National day? I started to google why so many flags?..

I have been to Istanbul before, it was maybe 20 years ago and boy has it changed. If you thought London was the biggest city in Europe (10m) then behold majestic Istanbul it has grown up to be a mega city of Twenty million.

Of course the pedantic person might argue that this city is not quite in Europe, strangling the Bosphorus which divides Europe from Asia. It also sits in the midst of geopolitical earthquakes, as the Bosphorus is the only sea link into the Black Sea across which is Ukraine. Turkey is almost bankrupt, with a currency crisis, zero reserves and it is up to its neck in the Ukrainian conflict, trying as a Nato member to contain difficult neighbours.

Historic time to be here. I thought we might find a city in despair.. but this place despite (or maybe because) of everything going on is alive and busy.

Yesterday we went to the exobition centre, it's big, well organised and massively busy. I don't think I have seen a tradeshow with so many visitors, quite extraordinary. It was actually quite hard to get the attention of a salesperson. They are clearly doing epic business deals. In the evening we switched to tourist mode and went to the famous Grand Bizarre, which is a huge indoor market in the old town area. It's a spectacular place and not at all stressful, not the aggressive traders I seem to remember. But friendly innovative retailers wheeling and dealing as they do but not out to con you.

Dates are important. May 19, 1919 was the start of the war of independence for Turkey. So the 19th of May is now Atatürk Day and Youth and Sports Day, an annual Turkish national holiday and major flag waving day.

Kamâl Atatürk you will know was the founder of modern Turkey and is much revered in these parts, his picture is also made into flags and banners.

Here is a Kamâl Atatürk banner in the heart of the Grand Bizarre.

I love old markets, we also visited the old Spice Market and the backstreet wholesale markets around the old town.

We were particularly impressed by the tea shops selling colourful special blends of tea. Lots of inspiration for extending our top selling tea blends.

Later we made it to a restaurant on a bridge close to the port to watch the sunset and take in the hussle and bussle of downtown Istanbul. Lots of Russians here because there are few other places to holiday for them. We heard Americans and Chinese voices, and who knows what is going on. Turkey won't allow wareships through its waters, not Russian anyone else.. A feeling of a city in the midst of history. Lots of wheeling and dealing going on.

I'm writing this early in the morning.. Now it's time for breakfast and another day in the city on the edge..

Take care. After here we go to Slovakia, where our epic move to a much bigger warehouse is almost complete.

More news next week.

David