"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" had a great box office in Turkey on Dec. 17. The Star Wars craze has been in the works for months with news about the new episode, film trailers and posters, but the real impact was felt when merchandise promoting the film hit the shelves.
BIM, Turkey’s largest discount retailer, launched a major campaign to market all sorts of Star Wars merchandise: mugs, pillows, towels, notebooks, hats, T-shirts, pens, and so on. While other retailers such as Migros also manufactured Star Wars merchandise, BIM's products got the most public attention. This was interesting because BIM is known as a deep-discount retailer — the biggest in Turkey with over 4,500 branches that sell basic goods, particularly in low-income neighborhoods — and because it has a reputation of being a conservative outlet. The majority of its shares are owned by Mustafa Latif Toptas, one of the richest businessmen in Turkey, and who has good relations with Justice and Development Party (AKP) elites. BIM also has branches in Morocco and Egypt.
