The Graand Bazaar of Tehran is the biggest of its kind worldwide. With an actual length of about 10 kilometers the bazaar is growing continuously as more and more vendors – or as they are called in Farsi, Bazaaris - settle down in the crowded streets. Even though a lot of the city‘s trade and finance businesses moved to gentrified parts of northern Tehran the Graand Bazaar still is a commerce epicenter.
Visiting the Bazaar for the first time was an overwhelming experience. The sheer mass of products being sold at the marketplace is unbelievable. I was expecting to see mainly traditional persian objects. As this is true for food, carpets and kitchen utensils a lot of the other stuff offered is far away from being persian. I witnessed cheap chinese plastics and piles of electronic waste from the 90‘s. In addition the Bazaaris react to the spike in international tourism in Iran. They more and more often try to sell western fake fashion and kitsch instead of trusting their traditional Iranian products as their unique selling point.
