![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_7868.jpeg\" "\\"Inside")
<\/a>A vendor stall at the Grand Bazaar.Photo by Maya Boddie<\/p>\nThat mix \u2014 locals who return Sunday after Sunday and visitors discovering the market for the first time \u2014 has defined the bazaar since its earliest days. Some shoppers have been coming for decades. Some vendors, too, have stayed for years. Others arrive new, bringing fresh ideas, aesthetics and stories.<\/p>\n
Walk the aisles on any given Sunday and the range is clear. One booth features handcrafted leather bags. Another showcases upcycled quilts transformed into wearable art. Nearby, fantasy illustrations sit beside hand-block-printed garments made using centuries-old techniques.<\/p>\n
Pierre Laborde, a handbag designer known for customizable pieces, has become one of the market\u2019s standout success stories, as viral videos of happy customers circulate on TikTok. On recent Sundays, lines stretched beyond his booth, wrapping around the block for hours.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels great, but also overwhelming,\u201d Laborde said. \u201cI started here about nine years ago, and there\u2019s really nowhere else I\u2019d rather be.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
The Grand Bazaar was his first market and the place where his work slowly found an audience. \u201cI work hard, but being here has been a huge part of my success,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Across the market, Priscilla Mimi Lee \u2014 who sells fantasy art under the name Bio, meaning art \u2014 offers illustrations created the old-fashioned way: ink and watercolor, no AI involved.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been at the bazaar for four years,\u201d she said. \u201cI just love the community. Everyone is so welcoming. It feels like one big family.\u201d For Lee, the bazaar fills a gap many independent artists feel acutely: the absence of coworkers. \u201cWhen you work for yourself, you don\u2019t usually have coworkers,\u201d she said. \u201cHere, I do.\u201d<\/p>\n Dara Levine, founder of Museum Mile Art, has been vending at the Grand Bazaar for about five years. She creates stoneware using lead-free glazes, with shapes and ergonomics inspired by her world travels.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a real community,\u201d Levine said. \u201cEvery week, it\u2019s a different assortment of people and vendors, and it\u2019s very inspirational. I shop as much as I sell.\u201d<\/p>\n A photographer by training, Levine draws from her trips across Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia, the Middle East and Africa \u2014 journeys she took after working in design and development at Coach and at the 1996 Olympic Games.<\/p>\n Kathleen Scully, a hatmaker who has been crafting headwear since 1999, also sees the bazaar as a place where creative lives intersect. Her sculptural cloches, berets and blocked hats trace back to Sceaux, a town just south of Paris where she once lived.<\/p>\n \u201cScully comes from Sceaux,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s like a seal of approval. Everything I do has my seal on it before it goes out into the world.\u201d Her limited-edition hats are made in France, in the same workshop that produces pieces for luxury fashion houses like Dior and Chanel. Some designs \u2014 including her classic cloche \u2014 she\u2019s been making for decades.<\/p>\n \u201cI used to sell hats right off my head,\u201d she said. \u201cPeople would stop me on the street and ask where I got it, and I\u2019d say, \u2018I can make one for you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n For many vendors, the Grand Bazaar is not just a place to sell \u2014 it\u2019s where values, craft and community align.\n<\/p>\n That ethos is embodied by Carolyn Ochs, a longtime jewelry vendor whose booth features sterling silver, 14-karat gold and carefully chosen costume pieces. She prides herself on making the shopping experience welcoming and pressure-free. Despite her many years at the market, Ochs \u2014 along with her husband, Bobby \u2014 still finds joy in showing up.<\/p>\n Food vendors have also become an essential part of the Grand Bazaar experience, turning a shopping trip into a full Sunday outing. From small-batch condiments to sweet and savory treats, the market gives food entrepreneurs space to test flavors, connect directly with customers and grow through word of mouth. One woman-owned business \u2014 Umikah Artisanal Products, owned by Luciana Uchi \u2014 recently earned national recognition for its crowd favorite, a yuzu lime fruit spread.<\/p>\n
\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_7939.jpeg\" "\\"Inside")
<\/a>A vendor stall at the Grand Bazaar.Photo by Maya Boddie\n<\/p>\n
\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_9142.jpg\" "\\"Inside")
<\/a>A vendor stall at the Grand Bazaar.Photo by Maya Boddie\n<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_7864.jpeg\" "\\"Inside")
<\/a>The Grand Bazaar has been open for 40 years.Photo by Maya Boddie<\/p>\n