World Market Bazaar

A super fun store with unique selection from all over the world including local artists. Knit hats and scarves, clothing, gifts, handmade jewelry, incense, antiques, spiritual tools, home décor, henna tattoos, friendly dog, warm vibes, good music!

My go to place to find some amazing and unique jewelry.

We purchased a $ 700 shelf here in January. The owner asked us if he could keep it as he was moving the business and didn’t have other shelf space. He indicated he would probably be able to deliver it as he was clearing many of the big items.
A week ago, he called my husband and told us we had to pick it up immediately. My husband was out of the county and called right back when he returned. Unfortunately, the number is out of service.
If you know how to get in touch with the owner, please let us know. We loved this shop, but are very frustrated because we don’t have our money or the shelf.

Cool store but they just don’t seem like they really care about selling you the items.
They were having a moving sale and there was this metal tree that you can hang jewelry from. They had their own jewelry hanging on it and I told them I would like to buy the tree only and the lady said she can’t let me buy it yet because then she would not have anything to display the jewelry on (there were a total of 3 of the metal trees so why couldn’t she consolidate the jewelry onto the other trees?). She said that if I wanted it, I would have to come back in a few weeks a couple days before their official move out date and I told her that I am visiting for the weekend only and wouldn’t be able to come back to get it and she still said no. It just didn’t make any sense to me because even if they weren’t moving, why have an item for sale but refuse to sell it due to not being able to display the jewelry? So I walked out and bought nothing.

A fantastic collection of stuff, all delightful, import fashion. Plan on being there a while to see it all. Excellent prices

I visited World Market Bazaar about a month ago and the experience has stayed with me so much that I am drawn to write a review. I was looking for a present for my niece but found much more. The variety of scarves, bags, jewelry was awesome. It was difficult to make a choice. I felt overwhelmed at first, until came this young woman who genuinely helped me with my selections. She seemed to be passionate about the store collection and the various cultures represented. She asked a few details about the person I was shopping for and brilliantly directed me to the perfect items as if she knew my niece! I also ended up buying a beautiful pillow for my house and a pair of earrings for myself. To top it off, she was fluent in French which happens to be my first language. The whole experience was a treat and I certainly will return on my next visit to Santa Cruz.

Nice location in downtown Santa Cruz. If you are looking to find a unique gift for someone this can be the place for you. They have a very nice unique selection of jewelry and trinkets from all over the world. Just go take a peek and see for yourself…

Just discovered this place a few days ago on a recent outing to Santa Cruz. One can go crazy in this place for knick-​knacks and unique gift ideas. Price is not the best, but it’s all part of the mystique of the place. I’m all good with that. The staff is also very helpful and super friendly.
If you’re ever in Santa Cruz, this place is a must see, IMHO. I know I’ll be back each time I’m in the beautiful city of Santa Cruz.

Every time my family goes to Santa Cruz we go into World Market Bazaar to peruse their wares. I actually think that I enjoy the scent of the shop the most. It’s the incense and it really goes with the all of the fun stuff that reminds of the things that a hippy Aunt who wasonce in the Peace Corps. buys for gifts.

Unfortunately I had to give them a star. Too bad we don’t have the option of zero stars.
I hadn’t been in there since they remodeled but it was WAY better before and had lots more stuff lots cheaper. I went in because I saw some cool windchimes but found that they were all hanging from the ceiling (and I am barely 5′ tall). I asked the clerk (who was apparently MUCH too busy talking to her friend to actually help me — apparently they don’t actually need to sell anything). She said there were prices on them (yes there were on some, but they were still about 5 ft over my head, so unless I could go thru a wormhole to get them from above, I was still out of luck). When I walked back to see if she had finished her conversation and was ready to help me, she ignored me. And I wonder why I only go to the mall about once every 10 years: the pervasive Santa Cruz customer «service». I’m surprised they don’t have a tip jar. Here’s a tip: get off your ass and do your job!

Very cool vibe in this place. Smells good. Sounds good. Feels good.
Nice ladies running the joint are super helpful and friendly.
A visual dessert. or feast for the eyes.

Good thing I don’t live close to this store! So many cool things, and tons of jewelry made it hard to leave without something? And oh I did… Hey it was my Birthday celebration with my daughter for the day, haven’t been to Santa Cruz in awhile. Grew up near by as a kid and it was a different downtown way back when, and of course the 89 quake changed and reshaped the downtown from what I remember. But after a little lunch we strolled by the shops and this one immediately caught our eyes.
Lovely Buddha statues of wood or stone, scarves, hats, batiks and yes jewelry. Tons of custom made turquoise rings necklaces or loose pendants, earrings. Amber, and many other stones or Hill siver (which I ended with a large statement piece ring). Also walked away with a light raw silk long scarf in a olive green perfect for a summer accent being light and thin. The gals working were super helpful and very friendly and the whole vibe of the store was relaxing and even after spending a bit of cash still left with a peaceful mind.

Cool store with several pieces from around the world. A lot of the pieces I found were from the far east, so perhaps the name of the store is somewhat misleading, but it’s got some culture, nonetheless.
They do have some sales in the home décor area, but most of the items on sale are simply mass produced items that take too much room in the store, hence the markdown. Note to self: it’s marked down for a reason, so think twice about buying the product and remember there is such a thing as hoarding.
They do have a selection of what I consider «hippie» clothing, a bit on the pricey end, but if you’re into that style and have the budget, I’m sure you’ll find something cool. If you’re a woman, or have a female friend, they have a selection of jewelry from around the world. Overall a good store to pay a visit. Whether you’ll walk out of there with something completely worldly is another story.

Definitely an interesting stop in Santa Cruz. I couldn’t have picked a better city for this place to be located (except perhaps San Francisco or Amsterdam). Great woodwork, an awesome selection of jewelry (including some cool gauges), incense, handmade journals, prayer flags, etc. This place is full of amazing finds! If it were just slightly less expensive, I may have left with a lot of fun finds. As it is, I find it a bit overpriced, but a cool place nevertheless!

Didn’t find them too worldly. Got cool Mexican folk art next door. World Bazaar was kind of pricey, but to be xpected for the area.

What an interesting place in Santa Cruz … well I should have expected it. After all, it is Santa Cruz.
This market is a huge collection of everything from the very souvenir to your friends and family to the very strange artifactual-​like statues and displays. They have a good amount of jewelry that seemed like perhaps they were always on sale from nice pearl plated earrings to amber rocks and so forth. Also a huge selection of rock pendants if you’re into that sort of thing.
Everything is «exotic» as another reviewer had said, or looked like it anyway. There was a lot of oriental statues and cabinets and lighting fixtures, as well as things that you would completely find useful (hello a REAL earring tree for those of us who have more than 5 pairs of earrings …) and colorful rugs and scarfs.
It’s an interesting browse for sure, but being unsure of how good the quality of the items here are, I would hesitate to pay $ 20 for a pair of earrings that may not last til tomorrow morning.

I thought you might enjoy this short video clip from inside World Market Bazaar on a busy day:

Dear World Market Bazaar,
You are a gold mine!
The end

I purchased my favorite necklace here. Love.

Looking for something «exotic» or perhaps «oriental?» Need something «authentic» because when you went on your trip to _​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​ (insert third world country here) you did not have enough space in your travel back pack to get that necklace, item of clothing or cloth? THANK GOD there is World Bazaar. Instead of supporting the local village when you went to Guatemala or India, you are coming here to buy it at an overly priced store in which said local villager does not reap the benefits of the profit of your items purchased here.
It must be nice to be able to «wear ethnicity» and think those items are «cute.» Perhaps my sarcasm and political references are not fit for a Unilocal review… but I am un-​impressed with these types of stores.