The Hasthkala

The Hasthkala is our small shop located on Bazdaran Street. This part of town is old and the streets are quite narrow, so it’s always a bit of a squeeze when the delivery carts come through. We focus on handmade goods. It’s mostly stuff we find from craftsmen who still do things the old-fashioned way. We have shelves stacked with pottery, small wooden items, and some fabrics. Because everything is done by hand, no two pieces are exactly the same. You might find a small mark on a bowl or a slightly crooked line on a cloth, but we think that’s what makes it better than stuff from a factory. My uncle started this business years ago, and I took over when he got too old to handle the daily climb up the stairs. It gets quite dusty here with all the inventory, so we spend a lot of our time just wiping things down. We don’t really do any advertising or have a big sign out front. Most people find us because they were already walking down Bazdaran Street looking for something different. The morning time is usually the quietest, which is when I like to sit and have my tea before the rush starts. We try to keep things simple and we don’t have a complicated way of doing business. If you like something, we talk about it and you take it home. That’s how it’s always been for us. I hope the street doesn't get dug up again this year.