OUR MERCHANDISE

We buy our merchandise from families who run small businesses.  

PESHTEMALS - We get them from Denizli & Buldan Region.  Each color is woven in a different family's loom in their home.  The Family Business we buy from is operated with wonderful principles.  They make sure they are supplied only by small family businesses and that's the biggest reason why I buy from them.  I have met some of the families and their children whose sons and daughters along with their parents weave the Peshtemals with much affection and love.  Their hearts and souls go into it.  I have been to their homes and sat by their looms, touched the lovingly woven beautiful peshtemals.  I love visiting them when I am in town, we share meala and lot's of glasses of tea.  They bring joy to my heart.

PURE OLIVE OIL SOAPS - We get our soaps from MIDAS Olive Oil Company that is now making soaps and other products.  It is a small family owned business that has been around a long time.  Since there are no sons left to continue the family business, their son-in law is bringing it to the modern age.  There are a lot of olive oil soaps are being sold out there.  None are pure like Midas Soaps.  Apparently they can add up to 17% of other oils and still call it pure.  Not one Midas soap is mixed with any other oils and is made with pure olive oil.  I used to buy them for my oldest son Michael, who has an extremely sensitive skin and the soaps are so fantastic we decided to sell them.  Nothing like a feeling so clean after using one of our soaps.  The term squeaky clean will have a new meaning after you use one of our soaps.

KESE - We get our Kese, the Exfoliating Mitts from KELEBEK KESE.  It is also a small family owned business that has made it big but operated by a small family values.  I have been to their modest and modern factory and was welcomed with open arms.  They make sure they employ local women first and make sure they are available to their families no matter the workload.  They are there to assist every single staff member in the times of need.  The owner doesn't have any sons to continue the business as it is the tradition in Turkey but has a daughter and she is running the business to new heights.  She has two very young sons who are being educated about the Silk Worm and Beech Fiber and weaving with them to create the Kese products to make your skin feel like a million bucks.  I adore this company and it's people.

OYA-DECORATIVE EMBROIDERY - The two brothers I buy the OYA from I think love them as much as I do.  They are a fabric wholesaler but have some very unique products.  The fabric they sell is called yemeni (Originally from yemen, a very thin and light fabric, that breathes very well) from which kerchives (Head scarves) are made.  I also designed and created scarves from this particular fabric and added Oya to them.  They have village women make Oya for them, their voted representative brings them to the city, a self made cooperative if you will.  I proudly order and buy from the ladies.  

Our logo is a daisy with an evil-eye center.  I love daisies and I love evil-eye beads.  I had to combine the two and create a logo that signified where I came from.  Evil-eye design goes back more than 3,000 years and were used by Phoenicians, Lycians, Phyrigians, Armenians, Trojans, Ancient Greeks, Lydians and many more ancient civilizations.  They all believed it protected them from evil and the bad.  Most of us from Eastern Mediterranean Region use it lovingly.  It has no religious boundaries as Christians, Jews and Moslems alike believe in it's powers.  Not only we have Needle Oya, Crocheted Oya, I also commissioned these lovely ladies to make our own logo Oya that we call the Harmony Oya.  They are loose Oya pieces and can be incorporated into anything you desire.

LACE - Both my grandmothers had hand crocheted lace curtains, table cloths and other pieces.  If they were not entirely made of lace, then they were bordered with them.  There were also the dollies that decorated and covered serving trays and coffee tables.  I loved the flickering sun rays coming through the little holes of lace dancing on the walls.  If you positioned your eye just right and looked out, you saw the world outside so differently.  People looked like they were in a movie somewhere acting for you.  I remember sitting by the window, peering through the lace curtains and thinking of stories of each person who would walk by.  I buy the lace from a supplier who is very ethical and kind and employs a lot of disabled people in his wholesale store.  Every time I walk in, I am welcomed by all, we sit and have lot's of tea together, we break bread and share stories.  One of those disabled young men had a son last year and the latest news I got last week is that the little boy is now walking.  I love getting their happy stories and they always seem to have happy ones.  It must be because of working in a place where they are valued no matter the disabilities they have.

So, this is some of our stories behind our products.  Our cost high but the money goes to very deserving people and their businesses,  Our profit margin is small but it is happy money.  We are doing our little share to make the world a better place.  Your patronage will help us continue with our goals.  

WE THANK YOU.