Owner: Romala Rajendran; originally from Sri Lanka; has owned her own business for 1 year; has been in Buffalo for 10 years

Languages spoken: Sinhala, Tamil, English

Payments accepted: Cash and credit card (Visa, American Express, Discover, Mastercard)

Telephone number: (716) 400-4899

Romala Rajendran is very satisfied when customers are excited about her Sri Lankan products. She enjoys hearing her customers say how pleased they are with her designs and patterns. She also loves speaking with customers because it gives her an opportunity to learn conversational English. In the words of Romala: "I am a people person!" 

Owners: Raine & Jerry Manuel; originally from Burma; have owned their own business for 8 months

Languages spoken: Shan (Raine's mother tongue), Tamil (Jerry's mother tongue), & other languages they speak include Burmese, Hindi, Malay, Thai

Payment accepted: Cash and credit card (Visa, American Express, Discover, Mastercard)

Telephone number: (716) 544-7565

About Zigma Naturals: Raine and Jerry carry natural products for skincare for both adults and kids. They also sell vitamins for both adults and kids. Vitamins for memory is a customer favorite. Hindi & Shan traditional clothes, accessories, and everyday clothing are sold at their business as well. Their clothing comes from Burma, Korea, Thailand and the United States.

Raine enjoys getting to meet and talk to people from all around the world. She loves that people come to visit her and that many people love her products.

"This is my first business in the US and being in the Bazaar is training for me, I'm still learning so I can someday open my own store.  Also, being in the Bazaar helps me improve my language skills." -Raine Manuel 

Owner: Julienne Nyiranjishi; originally from Rwanda 

About Julienne Boutique: Julienne sells a variety of products from all over Africa. Many of the goods come from her homeland, including Rwandan peace baskets and other types of specialty woven baskets. Her brother, who still lives in Rwanda, makes cards from banana stamps and woodcarvings. She sells handmade jewelry that is also made in Rwanda, along with shawls from Namibia. Julienne also sells unique instruments from South Africa including drums and an instrument called the kalimba, a thumb piano.

"I hope to graduate from the bazaar and have the opportunity to open my own store because I like business. I feel connected to the products I sell as many of them come from my homeland and my family members that are still there." -Julienne Nyiranjishi

From Rwanda to Congo and back to Rwanda, it took many journeys to get Julienne and her family here to Buffalo NY...

To learn more about Julienne's Boutique and her long journey to finally reach Buffalo NY check out her interview in Buffalo Rising: http://buffalorising.com/2014/01/julienne-boutique-the-west-side-bazaar/

Languages spoken: French, Kinyarwanda, English 

Payment accepted: Cash and credit card (Visa, American Express, Discover, Mastercard)

Telephone Number: (716) 903-7619

Owner: Ma Theint; originally from Burma; has been in Buffalo for 11 years 

About Moonlady Arts & Crafts: Ma Theint sells arts and crafts from her country such as gem paintings, lacquerware, traditional puppets, and Burmese musical instruments. She also sells clothes, accessories, and religious items.

Words from Ma Theint on how she ended up starting her own shop in the Bazaar: "I wanted to start my own business before I retired, in the future I want to open my own Asian market. I have big dreams!" 

For more information on Moonlady Arts & Crafts, and how/why she ended up in Buffalo NY check out her interview on Buffalo Rising. 

Languages spoken: Burmese, English

Payment accepted: Cash and credit card (Visa, American Express, Discover, Mastercard)

Telephone number: (716) 951-2386