BY DUSICA SUE MALESEVIC | If 99 Cents Creation — Chelsea’s longtime neighborhood discount store — were to be compared to a TV show, it would have to be “Cheers.”
But instead of libations and Sam Malone, there is general manager Mamadou Diaman running a well-stocked store that sells almost every sundry under the sun.
Diaman greets his regular customers by name, and they’re accustomed to him knowing off the top of his head, say, the price of a composition notebook (99 cents) — a good skill to have, given the recent uptick in stock designed to serve the needs of returning students. Prices for back-to-school necessities are low, with three folders for 99 cents, and $1.29 for items including a 24-pack of crayons, packs of 10 pens, and three-subject notebooks.
“We are the only 99 cent store serving Chelsea for over 20 years,” Diaman told Chelsea Now last week, while working at the store’s 149 W. 24th St. (btw. Sixth & Seventh Aves.) location.
Diaman, who has managed 99 Cents Creation for 11 years, attributed the store’s longevity to its having “built a relationship with our customers. It’s a great neighborhood.”
During several hot summer afternoons when Chelsea Now visited, fans blew generously while Diaman and his staff took care of customers who come to the store for its prices and variety. Every inch of the high-ceiling store is packed, with the walls and shelves offering everything from peanuts to laundry detergent to birthday supplies to honey to pain relief medicine to fanny packs to ties.
“The selection for a 99 cent store is remarkable,” said Miriam Fettman, a Penn South resident who has been coming to the store for 16 years. “You don’t expect to find choice like that. It’s nifty.”
Fettman pointed to the wall that held a myriad of toys, and said she has bought at least three pairs of slippers from the store.
“They just have what you need,” said Michael Hirschkorn, another longtime customer who has lived in Chelsea for 38 years. “It’s one-stop shopping.”
Hirschkorn, who had a big bag of purchases in one hand and his brown-haired dog Snickers’ leash in the other, told Chelsea Now he came to 99 Cents Creation all the time, and that the people who work at the store are very nice and know the regulars.
Danish Cheema has only worked in the store for a few months, but likes the fact that “it’s a friendly environment.”
His co-worker, Bilkis Rahman, agreed, saying she likes the customers, many of whom are regulars. Rahman has worked at the store for over four years, and said it is fun to talk to the many tourists who come in the shop, often for electronics like chargers or headphones.
Diaman started working at 99 Cents Creation in 2005 at the store’s first location, on W. 23rd St., btw. Seventh and Eighth Aves. Due to a substantial rent hike, they lost their lease, and the store moved to its current spot in 2013.
Hirschkorn, a longtime customer, said he was “lost when they moved” until he started coming to the store on W. 24th St.
There have been challenges at this location. There is less foot traffic, said Diaman, who noted that, even three years on, there are still some customers who aren’t aware the store has relocated within the neighborhood.
“It’s just a block away, but it’s a big block,” he said. “On 23rd it [was] totally different. This [block] is quieter. So when we came here we had to work harder to build the customer relationship.”
Asfar Khan, who has owned 99 Cents Creation since 2000, told Chelsea Now by phone that where the store is now — mid-block on a one-way street — had a big impact on his business.
“I’m just struggling there,” Khan said. “I’m fighting. We really don’t know what [we’ll] do. We do not know why we don’t have the business.”
Khan said there is nowhere in the neighborhood where you can get the same prices and selection.
Diaman, who used to live in Chelsea but now lives in the Bronx, said that business goes up and down, but has been helped by regular customers, who’ve put flyers in their buildings to spread the word. Also, sometimes when people go between Whole Foods and Fairway to compare prices, they discover the store again.
“ ‘Wait, Diaman, you are here?’ ” he said people ask him.
Nonetheless, Diaman vowed that 99 Cents Creation will continue to work hard to serve its regular customers, and find new ones.
“We have more deals than other stores in Chelsea. Period,” he said.
