A Reading man has opened a shop in Caversham selling handcrafted pottery from his Turkish hometown.
Hrn Sarac moved to Earley eight years ago from Kutahya, which has been home to porcelain and ceramic crafters for centuries whose creations are recognized by the United Nations list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
He hopes his store Bascuda, in Prospect Street, Caversham, will let Reading customers share in that history from 4pm on Friday (December 2).
“The home town where I was born in Turkey is very famous for its porcelain for 300 years,” said Hrn, aged 39.
“In every corner of the town there are small workshops who are painting and so I was born into this art.”
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Hrn first launched Bascuda as an online shop after some success selling hand-painted coasters.
He expanded the range to include ceramics, porcelain, tableware and dinnerware.
Now Hrn has chosen Reading to open his first ever brick and mortar store.
“It’s very exciting for us because while we were selling online we were not able to [be in] touch with people’s feelings, we can’t see the people’s smiles.
“Here we see how people are happy about the products and how they like it. This is also increasing our brand awareness as well.
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“Because we have chosen Reading, I can run it with my team so I can be close to the customers. I want to talk with them about the products.”
He said that during Covid he read articles suggesting e-commerce had killed the high street, but he believes his company is an example of an originally e-commerce company filling that gap.
“We were born in e-commerce but now it is time to go into the high street again.”
Bascuda’s 400-item catalogue is supplied by small and large workshops in Turkey, where the products are hand painted, Hrn said.
He added that he wanted to offer painting workshops for Reading residents in the summer of 2023.
The opening of Bascuda will coincide with Caversham’s late night shopping event the same evening, which begins at 5pm.
Customers can expect live music, mulled wine, hot food and an artisan market.
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