EASTON — Molly’s Place is expanding to Easton late this summer.
The sporting goods store has a location in Kennedyville, Maryland. Co-owners Nick and Chikki Shajwani credit the Waterfowl Festival as one of the main reasons they’re coming to Easton.
“The biggest thing that drew us to Easton was the Waterfowl Festival. We’ve been coming there for over a decade, plus now, and being part of that festival. It’s been an amazing run,†Chikki said.
The journey for the brothers started long before they owned a store. It goes all the way back to visiting the United States as tourists in the summer of 1998.
In 2002, the brothers moved to the United States, setting up in Galena, Maryland. The began to work for a man named Scott Mason, the original owner of Molly’s Place.
“Molly was a black lab, and that happened to be Scott Mason’s dog,†Chikki said. “We used to be in a hardware business. We had a hardware store in Galena, and it used to be slow in the winter time. Nick had this crazy idea because since it was so slow in the winter.â€
According to Nick, all summer long Mason would be there every day, and then during the winter he would disappear. Nick asked Mason where he went during the winter, and Mason told him he went to his hunting property.
After Nick found out about the Eastern Shore’s wintertime hunting culture, he thought of the idea of opening a sporting goods store.
“That’s how the sporting good store came to be. We opened a little sporting good store in a 900-square-foot space that used to be our lawn mower repair shop. That’s how we got into this sporting goods business. We did great the first year,†Nick said.
Mason bought out a building that housed a store named Vonnies in 2009, and in 2010 the brothers open Molly’s Place’s Kennedyville location.
The brothers now open their second location, which will feature partnerships no other store on the east coast offers, they said.
“This store is going to be more of our experiential store,†Nick said. “We are going to really go into and specialize in the product that we feel the community would really support. We have a great partnership coming through, which is the first of its kind. A strategic partnership with a brand called KUIU which is high-end hunting gear, which they have never done that with any other independent retailer in the country.â€
According to Nick, the California-based company coming to the Easton is a “huge feat for every outdoorsman and outdoor women that’s out there.â€
The brothers are excited to bring Molly’s Place to Talbot County and surrounding areas, with the store expected to open in late July or August.
“Molly’s, at the end of the day, is a core-values driven company,†Nick said. “We are going to carry the same values that we have worked towards, perfected and delivered here and been part of us, and we are excited about carrying and bringing that to Talbot County and those surrounding areas.â€
This report was updated to clarify misspelling from "Bonnies" to "Vonnies."
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