İzmir’s century-old blacksmith adapted to technology and opened up to the world

For a century in Izmir, the century-old blacksmith shop with a fire that has never extinguished has adapted to technology and started selling its handmade products to both Turkey and the world via the internet. The blacksmith shop, which has been open from the Ottoman period to the present day, setting an example for other businesses.

Izmir’s historical Kemeraltı Bazaar houses thousands of businesses. The bazaar, hosting many ancient professions, is essential to the city in this sense. The century-old blacksmith shop in the historical bazaar challenges time. Remaining open from the Ottoman period to the present, the shop with a fire that has never extinguished for a century is now the last blacksmith in Kemeraltı Bazaar.

Master hands rule the iron in front of the 1200-degree fire
Ali and Ömer Akdemir brothers have been continuing the invaluable profession they learned from their father Süleyman Akdemir for about 50 years. In the historical shop, products such as axes, knives, plows, hoes, and shovels are sold, while master hands dominate the iron in front of the 1200-degree fire.

“If we didn’t sell online, we would have closed down”
The most important secret of the shop’s survival is actually adapting to technology. The historical shop, bearing century-old traces with the sound of hammers never missing, opened up to both Turkey and the world through the internet. The success of the century-old shop has set an example for other businesses that were approaching closure.

Ömer Akdemir (56) said, “If we didn’t sell online, we would have closed down, we wouldn’t have returned to traditional blacksmithing.” Akdemir stated that they had to keep up with the times. Through the internet, they send products to many cities in Turkey, and even to the world. “We had to adapt to change. We make our sales online. Here; camping knives, hunting knives, axes; we have no problems with art. Counterparts in Europe are terribly expensive. We do better here. Our users, customers, friends see and recommend to each other. Our products reach all over Turkey, abroad; they search, find. We sent to England, we sent to Germany abroad; immigrants buy, foreigners buy,” he said.

“This shop has been open since my father’s master’s master”
Akdemir, who expressed that the historical shop has been open since his father’s master’s master, said, “This furnace is old even from our Republic, it has been burning since the Ottoman period. Hopefully, it will continue to burn with my son.” Akdemir added, “My father came here as an apprentice from Konya in 1955. Since then, my father, and before him, his master, were apprentices here during the Greek occupation; so it’s very old, a historical shop. It’s one of these rare shops. This place used to be like Izmir’s industrial site, all blacksmiths were here. Now no one is left, most of them died; we stayed. Apprentices are not trained, but my son is doing it. That’s my greatest joy.”

Orders are not being met: “80-90% of sales are online”
Ömer Akdemir’s son Süleyman Akdemir (28) also continues the profession with his father. Ömer Akdemir, who displays the products made in the historical shop in the shop he opened right next to it, stated that 80-90% of sales are made online, saying:
“This profession is inherited from my ancestors. I am the 4th generation in Kemeraltı. We have been doing this job on this street for 4 generations. I mostly sell our products online; I sell from social media and certain platforms. In today’s generation, most of our sales are online. 80-90% of our sales are through the internet and social media. Thanks to the internet, our foreign sales have started. There is an incredible demand because the quality of our workmanship is high. We work for nearly 24 hours. Day and night, we try to fulfill orders actively.”