It’s a sunny day, the winter of February. ‘Ting ..Ting... Ting,’ the ring of the clock at Pond Student Union Building tower vibrates the Pocatello campus. People are walking, the road is full of traffic near the welcome door of Himalayan Crafts and Smoke Shop. Roshan Kumar Shah is busy talking to a customer.
“Hey, you got the Hookah of your choice?” Roshan asks..“Yes, I did. Thanks for updating new items in such a cheap price,”a customer replies.. Himalayan Craft and the Smoke Shop, on the5th Avenue in Pocatello is run by Roshan Kumar Shah, a graduate from Idaho State University, who provides necessary foods items and smokes for all Indian, Nepalese and the local community.
“I always wanted to start a business because there is a high demand for Nepalese and Indian food in the Pocatello market,” he says. “The famous supermarket like Winco is not enough to meet those demand of the target customer although they sell many Asian food items.”Shah wants to make his shop diverse, a single store for smoke and grocery items. Smokers, food lovers and vegans visit his shop now regularly, which has been open since 2016.
Shah’s shop sells Royal Basmati Rice($17.99), Royal Atta Wheat flour(49.99), Toor Daal four lb($4.99), Wai Wai Noodles ($9.99), Ghee ($4.99), Brown Chana($6.99), and Parle-G Biscuits($12.99).“Last year, we used to go Salt Lake City to get our typical and cultural foods like Panipuri and Daalmoth for our Nepalese cultural program and the grocery need, but now Himalayan Craft and Smoke shop is the one which helps us to discover home in Pocatello with the different Nepalese food items,” said Ganesh Sapkota, a frequent customer of Himalayan Craft and Smoke Shop.
People visiting Shah’s shop demand a variety of the brands. Shah, who is from Nepal never had a plan to start the business while he was in the college.“I am so happy that 99 percent of my customers are the local,” he says. “There is a huge competition in smoke shops in town, but due to the quality and better price, I get more customers, which I think a good thing about owning an own business.”
To new people who would like to start their own business, Shah suggests doing research on the type. He says it can be tricky. A businessman should have a knowledge of the target customer, market situation, and research prior to the investment, he says.“I go to the store at least a week and buy the spicy Aka Masala, Okra, Chilli Pepper, Bell Pepper, Turnip and the Goat Meat. The clerk and the sales associate provides good customer service, if I didn’t get the thing of my choice,” said Kiran Pandey, other customer from Pocatello who attends Idaho State University. “Before this store set in this area, I often had to go to the Salt Lake City to get the Chiura(Beaten Rice), Bhatmas(Soya-Bean), Achar(Pickle) and many other times.”
Shah knows more of accounting and finance, which supports his business. He has to balance books and invest and understands the flow of money.. He says getting an education does not necessarily mean to get a job rather to implement things acquired through the college degree.
“ I grew up in the United States and learned how to deal customer. I am pretty familiar what American likes or dislikes,” Shah explained. My experience of working to smoke shops for two years and a diverse cultural knowledge have been useful to me. I have a good relationship with the suppliers as well,”Shah started the business in his transitional phase of his Bachelors and Masters. Having a business and a college nearby let him go to class during the class period and return back to his work eventually..
“I would say, Himalayan craft and Smoke shop has added quality to my life by bringing things that we love to have at our home,” Sapkota added.”The store has provided foods of our choices like Frozen Momo, Chowmein, Rasbari, Samosa, and on.”Shah experiences many challenges to establish a business and compete with others. The big challenge is he cannot rely on a single manufacturer or wholesale. Sometimes he often has to deal in Nepal for products and service for his business With all the confrontations, however, his business has a vast demand of customers in the local market.
In terms of smoke, we sell more Tobacco Rolling Papers, and in terms of grocery, we often sell spices to our customers,” Shah added. We bring Indian vegetable every two weeks, and we are always happy to offer things of our kind.”