A long time Eugene family business with three downtown stores is planning an expansion into the campus area.
Makyadath Lazar’s newest store will occupy 843 E. 13th Ave., formerly home to the Campus Shoe Shop for 20 years. Lazar said his son Priyamon Makyadath has owned the building for the past three years, but had to wait for Campus Shoe Shop’s lease to expire.
Makyadath said the store will be split into two parts, one that he will manage and one that his father Lazar will manage. Makyadath’s portion will open after spring break, and Lazar’s portion will likely open earlier in March.
Currently the building is being remodeled, and the only thing in the window is an employment ad. Lazar said the store will bring at least four new jobs to the neighborhood.
Lazar currently owns Lazar’s Bazar, 57 W. Broadway; Shoe-A-Holic Annex, 79 W. Broadway; and Shoe-A-Holic, 957 Willamette St.
Lazar came to Eugene from India in 1974 because his wife was offered a job as a nurse in Eugene. He took up selling tapestries door to door.
“I was not able to put everything in my backpack, so I opened a small store,” Lazar said.
His original store, Lazar’s Bazar, has been in business for 32 years at various locations in downtown Eugene.
Drix Rixmann, a board member of the West University Neighbors who has known Lazar for almost the same amount of time, said Lazar’s long career in the downtown neighborhood has earned him a loyal following of customers – as well as the store equipment of other merchants who were unable to survive the often sluggish downtown retail environment.
“He’s a real icon in this community,” Rixmann said. “People don’t forget him – they bring their kids in.”
Rixmann said Lazar’s personal interactions with customers make the store memorable.
“Nobody gets out of that store without a story, some entertainment or a deal,” Rixmann said.
Lazar said he is not sure yet what kind of merchandise the new store will have, and said he talks to customers to get ideas for what to sell in his stores.
“What they want is what I have,” Lazar said.
Rixmann concurred that the selection of merchandise at Lazar’s Bazar is hard to describe.
“When you’re inside, it’s like a museum,” Rixmann said.
One thing Lazar’s Bazar is known for is skateboarding and snowboarding equipment. When Makyadath, now 26, was 10 years old, he became interested in skateboarding, so Lazar suggested he manage the store’s skateboard division.
Makyadath, who presently manages Shoe-A-Holic and is the buyer for men’s clothing, said the whole family is involved in the business in various capacities. His mother, now semi-retired, helped start Shoe-A-Holic. His oldest sister handles
bookkeeping, another sister is the buyer for women’s clothing and a third sister living in San Francisco helps as a consultant.
Rixmann has designed Web sites for Lazar, and said Lazar plans to expand his online offerings as well. The main Web site is www.lazarsbazar.com. However, because the name of the store is spelled unconventionally, Lazar also owns the domain name www.lazarsbazaar.com. Makyadath said his family ultimately plans to tear down and rebuild the building on East 13th Avenue. The new building will be multiple stories tall and upper floors will be rented out to other businesses or as housing. The store will temporarily close during this process, which should begin within the next year.
“It’s going to, in the long term, be better for the whole area of campus,” Makyadath said.
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