After a years-long series of small business closures left over a half-dozen storefront spaces to remain shuttered for months at a time, the two-block stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 20th and 22nd Streets is experiencing a retail renaissance. A reasonably priced Ranjha Cleaners and a very cool addition to the Ralph’s Famous Italian Ices & Ice Cream empire now conduct legitimate business from, respectively, the 196 and 198 Seventh Ave. addresses once occupied by an illegal smoke shop and its cookie-centric sister space.

And after offering passersby nothing more than a “Retail Space Available ” sign for just over wo years, the 194 Seventh Ave. storefront–once home to a fondly remembered, family-owned 7-Eleven franchise–now sports a “Coming Soon” sign in its window, assuring the impending arrival of a market.

Just steps away, after crossing West 21st Street, is the narrow little space at 180 Seventh Ave–home to thin-crust-pizza-purveyor Pasta by Hudson from November 22, 2020 until closing earlier this year. In its place, Fat Bird came to nest in August, bringing with it a Southern-comfort-food-meets-global-cuisine menu anchored by their consistently satisfying takes on chicken sandwiches, waffle fries, and banana pudding (in original, oreo, & red velvet variations).

Right next to Fat Bird, at 184 Seventh Ave., is the space formerly held by World of Exotics–an illegal smoke shop forcibly closed by New York State’s Office of Cannabis Management. In its place, you’ll now find the similarly named but fundamentally different World of Organic. The retail establishment continues to carry some of the hard-to-find, oddly flavored variations on iconic snack food brands. But you won’t find any weed, no matter how nicely you ask. How do we know? We asked! Store management’s answer to that and other inquiries yielded the below Q&A.

Scott Stiffler, for Chelsea Community News (CCNews): What’s your name, and how are you involved with the business?

Aiziz: Hi, Chelsea. I am Aiziz, the Shift Manager.

CCNews: Who owns the store, and is it associated with the people who ran the smoke shop?

Aiziz: We, the new owners of this location, are not related to the previous owners.

CCNews: It’s great to see a business open once again in that space–and at night, to have light flooding the corner of that block again. It brightly announces the store name, which sounds familiar…

Aiziz: We did change the name to World of Organic. We kept half of the old name [World of Exotics], because when we were remodeling the store, a lot of passersby were asking about it [previous ownership], and we realized the name had value[and recognition] to some of the community.

CCNews: Are you a smoke shop, and do you sell any products associated with smoke shops?

Aiziz: We did buy the store inventory when it was a smoke shop, so I would say “yes” but only because we have some “smoke shop” accessories; lighters, rolling tray, and more—but we do not sell cannabis or drugs of any kind.

CCNews: Do you consider the business a convenience store, a shop…how to best describe the purpose and the inventory?

Aiziz: It’s a community corner store, and the place to go for those early morning or late night snack cravings. At the moment, we are seeing what else the community is asking for, product-wise, and we’ll have those things on the shelves in a couple of weeks.

CCNews: It looks like you have a lot of standard neighborhood store products, but what are some of the more unique items, and why do you carry them?

Aiziz: We do have the standard neighborhood store products: Doritos, soda, Gatorade. We also have healthier that are more like what a market would carry, like Stacy’s brand [pita chips], and Poppi’s [soda, lower in sugar than the major brands their flavors resemble], which are more of what a market would carry. The unique items would be our Japanese products—exotic snacks and drinks [with unusual flavors]. A lot of people actually like them. The mayonnaise-flavored chips are our top-selling product. We’re definitely going to order more of that, and keep some of those unusual items in stock. But our main goal is to be different from a regular store by bringing a way better and healthier inventory—while still carrying the standard products.

CCNews: On what date did you open? Have people who live/work in the area stopped in to say HELLO?

Aiziz: We did a soft opening on Thursday, September 26. And yes, a lot of people from the community have stopped by to say they were happy to see us open.

CCNews: Do you have regular store hours?

Aiziz: Our store hours, as of now, are from 9am to midnight, 7 days a week. In the future, we will be open from 8am to 2am.

CCNews: What should neighborhood residents know about what sets your place apart from other retail stores nearby?

Aiziz: We are here to offer amazing service to the community. We will have a Rewards Program for free items and discounts very soon.

CCNews: Are you from the area? Either way, what do you think about Chelsea, and what are your hopes as a person who operates a business in Chelsea?

Aiziz: I’m from Greenpoint, Brooklyn and this is my first time in Chelsea. I would say it’s very similar to Greenpoint, community-wise. I’ve only been here a week, and it’s growing on me.

ChelseaCommunityNews.com (CCNews) is an independent, single-owner online newspaper providing news, arts, events, and opinion content to Manhattan’s Chelsea community and its adjacent areas (Flatiron/NoMad and Meatpacking Districts, Hudson Yards, Hell’s Kitchen, Broadway/Times Square, and the Penn Station area).  Our editorial content is made possible by advertising revenue, grants, quarterly pledges of support, and voluntary reader donations (click here for our GoFundMe campaign). To join our subscriber list, click here to receive ENewsletters containing links to recently published content–as well as an occasional “Sponsored Content” email featuring an advertiser’s exclusive message. 

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