Kalustyan's

Kalustyan's began in 1944 when its founder, Kerope Kalustyan, pivoted after a failed steel importing venture. As an Armenian immigrant, he initially stocked the shelves with products to serve the local Armenian community that inhabited this part of Manhattan in the early twentieth century. The store occupied only a small, one-thousand-square-foot footprint at that time, focusing primarily on Mediterranean staples like dried fruits, nuts, and grains.