She transformed a floor of the wedding dress store into a museum.

A tradesman in Giresun, who has a passion for old items, displays more than a thousand antique objects, including 100-year-old pocket watches, in his shop, which has become akin to a museum.

Murat Akyazıcı (53), who has a shop selling wedding dresses in the Covered Bazaar of Giresun, developed an interest in old items since his youth. Starting with a stamp collection, Akyazıcı’s curiosity grew, and he eventually accumulated over a thousand items. As he began to run out of space for his belongings, Akyazıcı dedicated one floor of his multi-story shop to his collection and opened it to interested customers for visits.

On one floor of the shop, Akyazıcı mounted shelves he had custom-made in suitable places, transforming his workplace into a museum filled with antique items such as pocket watches, pendulum wall clocks, wristwatches, cameras, radios, record players, knives, prayer beads, sewing machines, gas lamps, video players, cameras, and scissors. Among the old items that catch the interest of customers visiting the shop, the century-old pocket watches stand out the most.

Traveling back in time for those who see it

Murat Akyazıcı, who explains that his interest in old items began with stamp collecting, states that the number of old items has increased day by day. “These items in the window are almost dripping with history. Among these items, as a third-generation tailor, there are over a thousand objects, ranging from sewing machines and scissors to pocket watches that are at least 100 years old, old radios, prayer beads, gas lamps, video players, and cameras. This has made me somewhat addicted. I dedicated one floor of my multi-story shop to these items. I take care of each one as if they were my own eyes. Each one works just like the first day. There are no items here that do not work. I bought these purely out of curiosity and interest, and I continue to acquire them. None of them are for sale. Those who come here are embarking on a journey into the past. Many people do not know about this place, but those who do especially want to visit. Currently, our oldest item is a 100-year-old pocket watch. There are also century-old items among the other objects,” he said.

The century-old shop also keeps the past alive

Akyazıcı states that among the items that have turned into a museum, there are also historic documents and photographs. “At the same time, this shop, which has a one-century story passed down from my grandfather to my father and from my father to us children, was originally a textile business made of wood and zinc-coated on the outside. Although it has modernized to its current state over time, we have always tried to preserve the traces of history. One of these is the Trade Directory published across Turkey in the 1940s. We still maintain the address listed in this directory. Additionally, checks and promissory notes obtained from the Ottoman Bank are also an important part of our collection. There are also photographs taken when my father and uncle attended the trials of Adnan Menderes,” he added.