So we were a little shocked to find that in the Grand Bazaar - a tourist trap if there ever was - the price before negotiations was cheaper than in the tradeshow. Wow.. this is a topsy turvy crazy world. It can partly be explained by the massive financial crisis that Turkey is going through right now. The value of the currency has collapsed in the last year, so this in theory should make exports cheap. Turkey is running out of reserves and ever more extreme extreme measures are been taken by the government. I'm not sure what I expected but what we found was a boom town, traffic jams, cafes and restaurants full, hotels expensive and fully booked, streets crammed with shoppers. The only cracks on view where rumours of protests downtown, taxi drivers telling us it was impossible to go to such and such an area right now. Lots of foreign exchange booths had been converted to cryptocurrency shops and seemed to be busy. The ATM offered USD and EURO as well as local currency. A city on the edge..

But we made a few friends and discovered nice people willing to help us find the genuine family businesses we like..  Turkey has a hammams, Turkish baths.. and so a cotton textile industry.. so spa towels, robes, bath towels etc. Lots of craft soap and cosmetic preparations.. Also wonderful tea mixes and other exotic herbs. Actually lots that fit in with existing AW ranges and I feel could bring a breath of fresh air to your stores and online shops. We will be back to finalise some deals soon.

Here in Slovakia we found a team slightly bewildered by what they had just done.. led by Tomas - often at a distance - they have achieved miracles, and managed to move from our warehouse of five years into this big mega shed - it's a bit crazy. The old warehouse cleaned repainted and handed back to our lovely landlord with no drama, a French company are already moving in.. the new place is almost finished - workmen are still working around us fixing windows and the finishing touches. No drama.

I have to say I'm so proud of the team here.. they are a little serious in that Eastern Europe kind of way, but super professional and hard working. Definitely my favourite team in the way they cope with any challenge without drama and just make it happen.  We left our original home and moved to the next stage of growth, it's like AW Gifts has grown up. From a warehouse that became way too small for our level of trade to one.. we are rattling about in..  and at this moment in time when sales are a bit subdued, (although we are still up on last year), it's easy to think "have we done the right thing?" 

Even I look at it and think OMG.. this is crazy, I have to go and check the sums again.