Couple Brings East To West(Lake) -- Exotic Turkish Jewelry Among Items For Sale

DOWNTOWN

Sinbad the Sailor traveled across stormy seas and fought mystical beasts to find a treasure chest full of riches from the East.

Today, all you have to do is battle downtown traffic.

Shakir and Serpil Kaymaz, a Turkish couple, have brought the East to the West Coast. They own and operate two jewelry and apparel stores in downtown Seattle, featuring clothes from Turkey, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand and Indonesia. "Many people are not able to go to these countries," Shakir Kaymaz said. "So we have brought the East to them."

Tucked away on the third floor of the Westlake Plaza, their first store, Kekko, offers a wide variety of Eastern baubles, from hand-made vests to silk scarves to silver tear-drop earrings. Bright-colored tapestries hang on the walls, and Turkish music plays in the background.

The idea of a jewelry store was born from Serpil Kaymaz shortly after the birth of their first child. She wanted to work in a position that would let her spend timewith her baby girl. After visiting Turkey, she got the idea of importing the unique jewelry made in her homeland.

She and her husband first tried to distribute Turkish jewelry wholesale to retailers. But they were unsuccessful. The larger stores bought their own foreign jewelry. Smaller stores couldn't take the risk. "They were hesitant to invest money in Turkish jewelry," Shakir Kaymaz said. "Turkish jewelry is foreign to most people."

Most stores are used to Thai and Indian jewelry, he said.

The couple decided to take a risk themselves and open their own shop. In 1989, they started up a Westlake Center push-cart business called Silver Shine, because most of the merchandise was made of silver.

"Serpil worried very much in the beginning," Shakir said, smiling at his wife. "But I told her not to worry. I knew we would succeed." He was right. In six months, the couple moved into the small store that is now Kekko. The name means "friend" in Kurdish. We hoped it would invite people into our store, as one would invite another into one's own heart, he said.

The couple recently opened a second store, Alhambra, on First Avenue and Pine Street. "That store is five times as big as this store," Shakir Kaymaz said, proudly. For the most part, they run the stores themselves, with the help of six employees.

Last year, both locations averaged about $500 in sales per square foot, or $175,000 for the combined stores.

Shakir Kaymaz attributes his successful introduction of Turkish jewelry to his own Turkish background. "I know the language and the culture," he said. "It's hard to conduct business if you don't know the ins and outs."

Business in Turkey, and other Asian and Middle Eastern countries, is dealt with differently. "They have to trust you to deal with you," he said. "Money can't buy you everything. You have to establish a relationship."

The owners also try to keep a good relationship with their customers. "When I buy, I think of my customers," Shakir Kaymaz said.

Shakir Kaymaz makes two trips a year, purchasing a minimum of $15,000 of merchandise from the various countries. He buys some Indian-made clothing in New York to keep in touch with the latest fashions.

There have been disappointments among the successes. For one thing, Serpil can't travel with Shakir. She needs to stay with their daughter and watch the stores.

"We haven't taken a vacation together in a long time," she said, smiling. But she said she understood. Running a business takes time, she said.