THERE IS A NEW PROFILE AT TRENDY VENUES THAT WE ALL VISIT REGULARLY WHICH CAUSED A TRANSFORMATION IN THE SOCIOCULTURAL STRUCTURE OF THE CITY. BOOKSTORE-CAFES ARE FAR FROM STANDARD COFFEE SHOPS WHERE WAITERS CONSTANTLY ASK FOR YOUR NEXT ORDER AS THEY EVOLVE TOWARDS PLACES WHERE YOU CAN SPEND TIME WITHOUT LIMITATIONS, BOOKSTORECAFES ARE PLACES OF FREEDOM…

As the profile and age range of the population in the city changes the places that are preferred also changes hence the sociological profile also assumes a new form. Bookstore-cafes which have been more frequently spoken of are examples of such changes. The need to lock oneself home due to seeking refuge from the crowds especially in metropolitan cities brings along psychological issues which also need solutions in return. Sometimes the urge to stay at home along with leaving home behind take-us over at times when the weather is either very hot or cold. Bookstore-cafes have become one of the preferred venues in recent years both by people who provide service as well as customers. In this issue we will review bookstore-cafes which are places where you can do a bit of reading or writing, that also offer panels and talks along with some publications offered as well as research sources provided while you can enjoy a snack or hot beverage.

LIKE HOME DESPI TE BEING OUT

Coffee shops that are widespread in our country are mainly regulared by men, craftsmen and retired people to spend some leisure time, however they have in time developed towards cafes for younger people as well as all members of society enlarging the group they address. Today there are concept cafes that provide different kinds of service –Spoken cafes, new generation coffee shops, bookstore cafes- reflecting the changing culture. So what are the variables of the changing trends? Merve Sevinc, student at the Urban Studies Master Program, Sociology Department of Istanbul University, brings clarity to the issue with the research she conducted; “Cafe owners are people of higher education with certain intellectuality, brining cultural activities into cafes offering customers comfortable areas to study where business is placed lower in priority, who cannot be categorized within a simple definition. Their customer base are people who work flexible hours and students. The reasons their customers choose to be there instead of libraries is that the latter is monotonous, far too quite not giving the freedom of eating and drinking whilst working or studying. Being able to speak to others and exchange ideas are among reasons why Bookstore-Cafes are preferred over libraries, people who go to these venues inform that they can focus much better in bookstore-cafes. One of the important reasons why these venues are preferred are their location. The average time spent here is about 4-5 hours and the majority of customers who choose to be there agree that the venue effects their reading- studying capacity positively. “

ONE OF THE THIRD PLACES : MINOA BOOKSTORE&CAFE

Sociologist Ray Oldenburg defined places where people get together to spend time together i modern society as the third place. If we think of bookstore-cafes as examples of such third places it would be wrong to limit the bookstore-cafe goers to students and people of academia. Such places are also highly popular among plaza and freelance workers. One of these Bookstore-Cafes are the Minoa Bookstore Cade located in Akaretler, Besiktas. We found answers to our questions on Minoa Bookstore Cafe from Petek, the co-owner of the venue which was opened in 2014 by Petek-Nazım Tokuz. As a matter of fact, the venue i located in the building where Petek, was born and raised and here is how Minoa started “My husband and I started this place together. My husband is an architect and book lover and I had been working in corporate worklife for 17 years. Minoa is a Project of life; the place is highly meaningful to us as we worked on every single detail of the venue. It may be more suitable to call this an independent bookstore, because we sell Turkish and foreign books, we import independently. We are also among book importers of the country. We started off with the idea of offering a unique collection of books. We also try to organize workshops where they can exchange ideas and talk. We have a set clientele that come here regularly and architect companies that buy multple numbers at a time. We also have customers that are interested in certain topics and hotels forming their own libraries. There is also a store upstairs that sell hand-made products related to book categories offered. This is a place where you can enjoy lunch while reading a book, thinking peacefully, yet sometimes where you can hold meetings. We also have a section for second hand books along with the brand new books. We have several recipes and a wide variety of choices in our menu if you wish to eat or drink while you are here.” Minoa Bookstore-Cafe offers you thousands of local and foreign books which you can research from related to your area of interest along with several delicacies you can enjoy while doing so. These choices are not limited to Minoa, there is also the Turk-German Bookstore cafe in Sishane where there are both Turkish – German sources, as well as German delicacies such as Berliner, Kasekuchen, Apfelkuchen. If you wish to enjoy the breeze and go towards Besiktas it is Minoa, or if you wish to stroll from Istiklal Street towards Galata Tower then it is Istos telling the story of the city or yet if you are on the Asian side to enjoy the peace of Istanbul we suggest you visit Tasarim or Akademi 1971…

NOTES

BOTH ART HOUSE AND BOOKSTORE CAFE…

Bookstore Cafe which was founded in 2011 is considered to be a modern day coffee shop with its 6 thousand- book-sources along with the gift books added to their collection. The Bookstore Cafe located on the 3rd floor of a building has workshops in other floors. The venue located in Baglarbasi offers lessons on marbling to piano, calligraphy to electro-guitar with its numerous workshops in the building. Founder Abdurrahman Demirel claims that the visitors of the venue are surely no customers and adds: “They sure are no customers but guests. We have guests from all parts of Turkey, When the Bookstore Cafe becomes widespread you will see 

IT IS THE STORY OF THE CITY BEING TOLD!

Along with its 7 year-long Publisher history of independent Turkish – Greek and Greek-Turkish  sources, there is a 1 year Bookstore-Cafe history for Istos in Tonton, Beyoglu as an independent publishing house and Bookstore-Cafe. The name Istos means “web” in Turkish according to the words by Foti Benlisoy co-founder of the Bookstore –Cafe and Publisher: “Istos which was founded in 2011 to present the history of the Greeks and the city along with their culture and life style is more of a school to train translators, editors, redactors rather than a commercial medium. We aim to make this place the center of cultural revival.”

By: Dilara Özdeş/Photography: Mühenna Kahveci

*This article was  published in the  July-August issue of Marmara Life.