It may have been more logical to ask for the meaning of the above expression, which is used in the sentence quoted.
Literally it means to 'go to the side of' and it refers to 'moving into the vicinity of, going near, approaching' a person. It also has a figuratve meaning of 'entering the employ of, taking up employment with'. Without wider context, it is not clear which of these two meanings it has here, although not knowing the customs dodges seems more likely to be a reason for not being able to get a job with a merchant than for not being able to approach him/her.
Meaning 3. on the following page suggests another interesting interpretation of this expression which I will not replicate here!
http://www.eksisozluk.com/show.asp?t=yanına girmek
The translation workplace 
