Royal Naval Dockyard mainstay Grand Bazaar has opened a second outlet at Clocktower Mall with a view to attracting a local clientele.

GB Home, located directly across from the main store, stocks bags, cushions, couch throws, table runners, table cloths, bedspreads and carpets as well as handmade mosaic lanterns.

The 325-square-foot outlet, which also sells fabric by the yard and will stitch special orders, is reminiscent of the early days of the main Grand Bazaar store, which opened 15 years ago.

“We used to have a big home section in the original store, but we kept expanding our clothing line and shrinking the home section because we needed the space,” says Turkish-born Bulent Ganal, who owns the stores with his wife, Teresa.

“That is how we started, offering home stuff for locals. We expanded into tourist items as we progressed.”

Emphasis on the tourist trade, he explained, developed after the 2009 recession.

“Our customer base was 60 per cent locals and 40 per cent tourists but after 2009 it went the other way,” Mr Ganal said.

“Now, local sales are quite low but that is in part due to us shrinking our home section. Now, having a home store on its own, I think it will pick up the local trade.

“In the main store, we stocked more home stuff in the winter months - but now we can do it year-round.”

GB Home also offers an upholstery service. “Bring in a chair, pick out a fabric, and we will have it upholstered for you,” Mr Ganal said.