EXACTLY ONE year on and the Women’s Bazaar in Nicosia is running as strong as ever.
Traditionally known as the Gynaikobazaro, which literally translates into Women’s Bazaar, Ambrosia Sakkadas set about reinventing the 1920s market in an effort to help promote local designers without shops of their own.
Sakkadas said: “Up until now it’s been on about four times a year and has been kind of seasonal. From now on it will be every first Saturday, of every month.”
Only May will differ due to the May 1 three-day weekend with the bazaar being held on May 8, she said.
According to Sakkadas, 44, the gynaikobazaro started in 1923 and was exclusively for Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot women.
“The men had to stay outside and were not allowed in when selling goods.”
Sakkadas said the exact spot where today’s bazaar is held at the bottom of Ledra street on the right inside the arcade, before the Green line, was where the original bazaar had once stood.
“It wasn’t a building it was just a piece of land in the middle of Ledra Street,” she said.
“In those days they sold stuff like fabrics so that they could sew their clothes and used to bring stuff they could plant in their gardens like fruit and veg. They used to sell marmalades, tomatoes and cucumbers, not just handmade stuff like blankets and handmade mattresses.”
Sakkadas said it was called gynaikobazaro because only women ran it then. “Obviously today’s version is a modern take on the whole thing and men are welcome. We’re just using the original name because of the spot and the history behind it.”
The My Shop owner said one of her biggest reasons for reinventing the bazaar was to help people who made handmade things and didn’t have the money to have their own shop.
“Now they just have to pay for their spot and I pay for everything else. I bring the extra lighting to the building, supply the music, print all the leaflets and I’m helping kids sell their stuff where they couldn’t before. It’s become fashionable for people who own shops to check what’s going on and sort of headhunt designers in a way. A lot of them have launched their own Facebook pages and websites where they sell their stuff.”
Sakkadas said every month they tried to get new stuff in and fresh people.
“This time we have 50 stands. We’re going to have secondhand books, stained glass, vases, jewellery, clothes, bags, vintage secondhand clothes, printed t-shirts, wooden toys, and organic baby toys. Get Fresh brings sandwiches and we have Starbucks for coffee, and we always have a charity stand. We’ve also got second-hand furniture.”
She added: “Every month we have a constant flow of people calling us. We had aromatherapy in the past, have had handmade candles, greeting cards, blankets, all sorts of things. I mean anything that anyone actually makes. Cupcakes, cakes, and this year we have Easter eggs where she’ll be icing the kids names on the eggs. We’ve got all sorts of things going.”
The bubbly organiser said the sellers set up their stands at 7am and the bazaar opened at 10am and ran on till 8pm. Because it got very busy the bazaar could take no more than 50 stands, she said.
“I really do want people to contact us at My Shop to talk to me or my helper, Alexia, because every month we are always looking for new people and not only women. We’d like anybody to come. We are constantly looking for creative people who need a way to sell and promote their stuff. Even if they don’t sell thousands of pounds worth of that day they get orders and commissions and all sorts of stuff.”
