ABOUT US

 Azaad Bazaar is India's First LGBT pride store. The label carries everything from t-shirts and accessories to mugs, notebooks and fridge magnets, to disco balls and fur handcuffs.

We have been in the business of creating products for the LGBT (lesbian gay bi-sexual transgender) community since 2006. In 2007 we launched our t-shirt line and in February 2009 the Azaad Bazaar brand was launched. The brand hopes to create ways that members from within the community and its supporters can make statements of freedom, pride and identity... All while still having fun with the naughty one-liners!

Today both Azaad Bazaar and the Jailbird t-shirt line are well recognised brand names within the community with customers from India and across the world.

What We Do
At Azaad Bazaar, we strive to create a language of design that is a seamless blend of Indian sensibilities and international “Rainbow Pride” symbols. We also have a large number of straight supporters, with about 50% of revenue coming from non-LGBT clients. This is why most of our products have alternative designs that are subtle, thoughtful, and incredibly "straight friendly".

We have a commitment to providing members of the community with affordable, high quality, Indian pride merchandise. Our products range from Rs. 30 to Rs. 2,000 with most products falling below the Rs. 500 price point. We also produce specialized products for community groups and events. These include everything from gift hampers to custom t-shirts, party accessories, custom fridge magnets, etc.

Our Strengths
Design, innovation and quality are our key strengths. Quick turnaround times and strong connections with our manufacturers mean that we can produce topical designs (like the Maa Da Ladla t-shirt), in large or limited quantities without missing a beat.

The Community
The middle class Indian LGBT community is variously estimated to be between 1 and 20 million. Regardless of actual numbers, the community is gaining recognition as a viable market with clubs, tour operators, hotels and big brands ranging from Amul and Hindustan Times to Absolute Vodka increasingly showing support and creating events targeted at the “Pink Rupee”.

Since the launch of www.azaadbazaar.com in July 2009, the website has received an average of 1,500 hits per month (of which 1000 are from Metro cities in India).
We have online visitors from Trivandrum to Amritsar, and Shillong to Rajkot… not to mention the hits from 76 countries worldwide. Our online customers mainly come from Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Bangalore and Kolkatta… and we’ve even had buyers from small towns like Raipur and Patna.

Azaad Bazaar is not an “Online Only” store. We have a physical store in bandra in Mumbai (got to store location on the top for location) .where u can get some chai or coffe at our honer system counter and sit down with a book to read or just join the on going discussion out side , besides shopping there  that is 

Community Building
The Azaad Bazaar brand is not just products and sales… it is about people and a sense of responsibility to the community. The website  ,store and office phone often double as a helpline and community resource. We are also in the process of putting together a nation wide list of help lines and queer friendly businesses.

We have been associated with Pride Marches in Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkatta since 2007, and the Ban 377 t-shirt is now almost synonymous with the movement. In Mumbai, we are part of the organizing committee for the Queer Azaadi March, and we even had the privilege of making the giant (35 foot) rainbow flag

Presence
In just the last few years we have been fortunate enough to have been covered by almost every major newspaper in the country, with several magazine articles and a full page ad on the back of the Bombay Dost. We have a strong presence on Face Book, Wikipedia, Twitter, and Google. We occasionally have a stall at the Gay Bombay parties, and participate in community events (like the pride marches). All this coupled with the online store and  the bandra store in mumbai ensures that we don’t lose touch with our customers.


We thank you for being a part of our story.



The Herstory of Azaad Bazaar

When we started creating products for the queer community in 2006, the idea was to have a few products (mostly jewellery) that members of the LGBT family could wear as a mark of pride in their queer identity. Back then the brand was called Serapheena, and we'd hang out at Gay Bombay parties and sell devil horns, feather fans and handmade jewellery and accessories.

With encouragement from our friends, we invested in our very first line of t-shirts in 2007 and the Jailbird brand was formed. That first round of t-shirts was designed with one simple criterion... all designs had to be discrete enough so that “mom” didn't ask too many questions when it was put in the wash.

Since then, Jailbird t-shirts have been a part of Calcutta Pride 2007, and more recently we were thrilled to be a part of Mumbai's very first pride march: Queer Azaadi 2008.

The Azaad Bazaar brand evolved from the enthusiasm and excitement of pride 08. We decided to expand our product line and move into Home Decor, Mugs, Glassware, Jewellery, Leather Wear and various other categories.

in dec 2009 we opened our first physical store in mumbai ....and are still going strong

The name Azaad Bazaar literally means "Free Market", and this space is open to all members of the LGBTS community to showcase any product or service, as long as it is a harmonious fit with the Azaad Bazaar brand. If you've got a product that you would like sell with Azaad Bazaar, send us an email, and we'll get back to you with details on quality guidelines and profit sharing.


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