Evolving suitcase trade thrives in İstanbul's most global zone
May 17, 2014, Saturday/ 16:30:00/ PAUL BENJAMIN OSTERLUND/ ISTANBUL
The sharp crack of packing tape being stretched around large parcels pierces the air right around lunchtime on an overwhelmingly sunny day in İstanbul's Laleli district.
Laleli, home to İstanbul's "suitcase trade," is a dense network of clothing shops, selling primarily Turkish-made textile products to buyers from Russia and a score of other former Soviet countries. The name of the trade stems from its humble and small-scale roots, where entrepreneurial-minded travelers with few other options would stuff whatever they could into a suitcase or two and bring it back by bus to sell back home.
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