ISTANBUL
From a 30-square-meter (323 square foot) workshop in Istanbul’s historic Suleymaniye district to operations spanning 43 countries, the journey of Türkiye’s global home and lifestyle brand Karaca mirrors the half-century entrepreneurial story of founder and board chairman Arif Karaca.
“A good tradesman should have three traits: patience, honesty and a strong command of accounting. Trade requires patience. Today’s Karaca was built on the foundations of a company that closed in 1973, and it took us 52 years to reach where we are today,” Karaca told Anadolu.
Karaca has grown from a small family workshop into one of Türkiye’s internationally recognized home and lifestyle brands, operating across Europe, Asia, the Middle East and beyond.
The company’s development has been guided by a long-term vision focused on quality, added value and sustainable growth rather than short-term gains.
Karaca’s introduction to trade began at an early age in his hometown of Malatya, where he worked in his father’s stationery shop.
Growing up among books, he said, helped shape his character and sense of responsibility. At the age of 9, he was sent alone to Sivas to purchase books wholesale, an experience he described as his first serious encounter with business life.
“I was just 9 years old, but my father always said, ‘My son can do it.’”
Despite the stationery shop’s steady income, losses from other ventures eventually forced the family to close the business. Rather than walking away from their obligations, the family chose to repay all outstanding debts.
“My father was an extremely honest and upright man. There was no ‘let’s shut down and walk away’ mentality. He said, ‘We have debts, and we must pay them.’”
First days of Karaca in Istanbul
That decision marked a turning point for the family, leading them to Istanbul and to a change of sector.
The family opened a small workshop in Suleymaniye, using their income to settle debts in full.
“After settling everything, my father said, ‘That’s it for me. I’m leaving you no debt. What comes next is your responsibility.’ And that’s when we took over,” he said.
After his father stepped back from active business life, Karaca and his siblings took over operations, working under difficult conditions and often spending nights in the workshop as they struggled to keep the business afloat.
Noting the hardships of the early years in the Suleymaniye workshop, Karaca said, “When I finished high school and came to Istanbul, we were working in a 30-square-meter workshop. Seeing my younger brothers there was heartbreaking. We had grown up in relative comfort, and suddenly found ourselves in a poverty we had never known. I told my father I wouldn’t go to university and instead I would start working. I didn’t even apply for the university exams. My brothers and I worked day and night. Often, we didn’t go home; we laid out cardboard boxes and slept on them. It was deeply painful to experience this after a comfortable upbringing.”
The Suleymaniye workshop later became the birthplace of the Karaca brand. At the age of 17, Karaca changed the company’s name to “Karaca Zuccaciye,” marking the formal beginning of the brand’s journey. The early years were defined by long working hours, limited resources and a determination to rebuild from scratch.
Time to expand
Karaca’s growth accelerated when the company turned to overseas manufacturing, as domestic production capacity at the time was insufficient to meet its quality and design expectations.
For three years, they visited porcelain factories around the world.
“We traveled everywhere -- Italy, France, Korea, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Egypt -- anywhere porcelain, steel cookware or Teflon was produced. We selected the brands we wanted to work with and built partnerships. They agreed to produce goods under the Karaca name. Chinese and Indian manufacturers were also among them. We designed everything ourselves -- packaging, patterns, forms, compositions -- and had exact replicas produced. Once the products started arriving, sometimes we shipped them directly to customers without even storing them. Our business and our vision expanded enormously. From then on, we always worked with overseas producers.”
The expansion also coincided with Türkiye’s economic liberalization in the 1980s. Karaca said the reforms implemented under late President Turgut Ozal transformed the trade environment by encouraging competition, improving product quality and expanding consumer choice, particularly in the housewares sector.
“There is a clear ‘pre-Ozal’ and ‘post-Ozal’ era in the Turkish economy. Before him, we couldn’t even find enough variety to sell in housewares. Shops were tiny, about 30 square meters, with a few enamel or aluminum pots and pans, often unpainted and unhealthy.
“Can you talk about trade in a country where foreign currency is banned? Özal came, liberalized imports, imposed taxes and customs duties, and ensured the state, not smugglers, benefited. He wasn’t from a wealthy family, but his worldview was completely different. After him, housewares shops began to grow.”
‘We always tried to produce the best products’
Karaca said they never competed on price, only on quality.
“There is always something cheaper than cheap. We never fell into that trap. From that point on, everything we produced carried the Karaca brand, and we never put the Karaca name on a low-quality product. We always tried to produce the best, the most perfect.”
He added that the group revitalized well-known brands such as Jumbo, Emsan and Homend, which had struggled after passing to second or third generations, restoring them to their former strength.
‘Patriotism means doing your job in the best possible way’
Karaca underlined the importance of family union and solidarity and said those ethical values have played a central role in the company’s success.
“We owe everything to this country,” he said, pointing to the link between business ethics and national responsibility.
“Without our state, our flag, we wouldn’t even be allowed to breathe. Look at what’s happening in Gaza and Palestine. That’s why we know we owe this country so much, and we must do everything we can, more than we can. Patriotism means doing your job in the best possible way.”
He had advice for aspiring entrepreneurs:
“Anyone who says, ‘I will be a trader, a businessman, an industrialist,’ must meet three criteria. First, patience. An impatient person should never get involved in trade. Today’s Karaca was built on the foundations of a company that closed in 1973; it took 52 years.
“Second, honesty. Trade will eventually expel anyone who is dishonest. You might benefit briefly, but you will fall just as quickly. Third, you must know your numbers: how much you sold, how much you earned, how much you saved. Be patient, be honest, and know your accounts. When you do all three together, success follows,” he said.
