Nicholas Brooklyn didn’t start on Fulton Street. It started in the trunk of a car.
In 1974, my father, Randolph Nicholas, began selling products to stores around New York City. There was no storefront and no fixed address — just his car, his products, his determination, and a name that people were beginning to remember.
From there, he got a space at a flea market in Queens. Then, around 1980, he opened the first Nicholas storefront on Broadway between 17th and 18th Streets in Manhattan.
What started out of the back of a car had become a real store.
More than fifty years later, that same family business is still here.
Today, I run Nicholas Brooklyn at 1396 Fulton Street in Brooklyn, and I’ve been working in the business since 2003. So much has changed over the years. We’ve expanded our products, our reach, and the way we connect with customers. Today you can walk through our doors and find hundreds of fragrance body oils, herbs, crystals, books, incense, shea butter, black soap, spiritual products, wellness products and so much more.
But what hasn’t changed is what my father created from the very beginning: a business rooted in our community.
The Wall
Walk into Nicholas Brooklyn and you’ll see a wall filled with photographs.
Those pictures aren’t there because somebody sat down one day and decided we needed a celebrity wall. They accumulated naturally over the years.
They’re pictures of people who came through our doors.
People like Llaila Afrika, author of African Holistic Health, visiting with Dr. Melanie Stevenson. Cheryl McKissack Daniel, author of The Black Family Who Built America, at a signing in our store. Dr. Kaba connecting with the community. Will Calhoun. Lloyd Strayhorn, Hankh Rising Sun and Kufunya Star Rebel visiting together. Doctah B Sirius. Tassili Maat. The Black Dot.
And there are so many others.
When you’ve been in business this long, sometimes you don’t realize how much history has walked through your doors until you stop and look at the pictures.
That’s what that wall means to me.
It isn’t really about famous people. It’s a record of the people, conversations, authors, teachers, healers, artists, customers and community members who have been part of Nicholas over the years.
Some people came once. Some came many times. Some became friends. And there are customers who have been shopping with us for decades.
That’s something I don’t take for granted.
Why It’s Still Here
People sometimes ask me what it feels like to run the business my father started more than fifty years ago.
When I really think about it, it’s incredible.
My father started this business selling out of the back of his car. I get to walk into a store every day with his name on it.
I’ve been part of Nicholas since 2003, and over the years I’ve had to make the business my own while still protecting what my father built.
The world has changed. Brooklyn has changed. Fulton Street has changed. Retail has changed tremendously. We’ve had to change with it — adding new products, listening to what our customers are looking for, building our online presence, creating content, reaching a new generation and finding new ways to keep a more than fifty-year-old business moving forward.
But there are certain things I never want to change.
I want people to be able to walk into Nicholas and ask questions. I want them to discover something they didn’t know about before they came in. I want people to feel comfortable here. And I want our customers to know that when they support Nicholas, they’re supporting a family business that has been serving our community since 1974.
There have been good years and difficult years. There have been enormous changes in the neighborhood and in small business itself.
We’re still here.
And when I look at that wall, that’s what I see.
Not just photographs.
I see more than fifty years of people who walked through our doors and became part of the Nicholas story.
And we’re still adding pictures.
Come See Us
Nicholas Brooklyn 1396 Fulton Street Brooklyn, NY 11216 718-858-4400
Open seven days a week: Monday–Saturday, 10 AM–7 PM Sunday, 12 PM–7 PM
And the Nicholas legacy has grown beyond Brooklyn. You can also find us at:
Nicholas on 3rd 1972 3rd Avenue New York, NY 10029 (646) 892-3122
Shop online at nicholasbrooklyn.com.
Come see the wall. Come browse. Come talk to us.
And maybe one day, your picture will become part of the story too.