TAAGLAA: Grand Central Market Bazaar

TIGER’S AWESOME ADVENTURES IN THE GREATER LOS ANGELES AREA

Story Clementine Evans

PHOTOS EMIKO (EMI) ESSMILLER

Below the beloved Los Angeles Grand Central Market is a hidden bazaar, offering a diverse array of interesting finds. The flea-market showcases vendors and their creative designs from 11 a.m until 9 p.m from Friday through Sunday.

After the two train rides and a walk from the Civic Center train station, me, Emi, her friend Elise, and my COPA rival Isabelle arrived at the market. The plethora of neon signs that pointed out the varying bars in the market was dizzying. The chaos in the market above was too overwhelming, enhancing the tranquility and comfort downstairs in the bazaar. The four of us then headed down to where the banners pointed us.

The Grand Central Market Bazaar opened in 2020 during the height of the pandemic to give opportunities to local vendors who had otherwise lost venues to sell their products. The former director of the Grand Central Market had the idea to open a forum downstairs to support small businesses in such a time.

As we walked down the steps, the sweet scents of homemade of candless beckoned me in. We wandered from stall to stall downstairs and gazed at each vendor and their products from vegan leather products to homemade sweater vests. Varying tables stacked with handcrafted jewelry emphasized the creativity of the environment.

Instead of taking notes, I wanted more than anything to venture to all 12 of the tables and buy everything they had. After I calmed myself down and realized that that was not the best idea, I pulled out my notebook and started furiously scribbling down small details.

Minimalistic jewelry and aesthetic glass mugs lined the tables while I walked by. I strolled through the stalls and I was transcended into an underground escape. I knew I could walk around and discover something I had never seen or heard of before.

My first purchase was at Rita’s Jewelry Designs, a business that handmakes jewelry and trinkets, where I bought two vinyl stickers, one with Eyore and one with Piglet, both from one of my favorite Disney classics, The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.

After looking through the stickers and purchasing them both. Isabelle and I walked around the small basementlike area underneath the busy, upstairs world of foods. The two of us admired the handwork of the vendors and the detail in their product.

I then made a beeline for these incredibly pungent candles at Neth Sarmiento. Candles were crafted into incredible shapes that reflected their scent. A blueberry cobbler smelling one had the designs of small blueberries and light blue frosting carved into the candle in threedimensional design.

Vendors that had smaller stalls that seemed hidden also had the most obscure items. The Style House of Chic had only a single table and three small racks of clothes. The tiny and luxurious stall had clothes that I had always dreamed of finding.

As the owner told me their backstory and where they get their inspiration from, I fawned over the intricate designs of one of their baguette bags. The scrunched up strap along with the rest of the almost ironing-worthy fabric really did make me hungry, not that I would ever eat a bag, but definitely a baguette if I could find one. I kept thinking about what other foods could go well on a handbag. After snapping out of my food and accessory trance, we decided to head upstairs to the food market.

After realizing I should probably get out of the middle of the narrow walkways inbetween restaurants, I finally ordered Mac n’ Cheese with crispy chicken from Knead Noodles. Emi and Elise split off from me and Isabelle and ordered at Bento-Ya. We all dove into our meals and exhaled with satisfaction over the day we had enjoyed. After being back at school for two weeks, another break was just what we needed.