If your driving destination isn’t a Kent County small town like Betterton, Galena, Worton, or Still Pond, you may never have come across Molly’s Place. Amid miles and miles of farmland on Maryland’s upper Eastern Shore, it pops up unexpectedly: a clean, modern gas station and convenience store, a restaurant, and a high-quality outdoor sporting goods shop—all in one.
By the look of this well-stocked, polished business, you might think it’s a national chain. That is, until you learn that its owners are two Indian brothers who immigrated as teenagers to nearby Galena (population: 766). When Nick and Chikki Shajwani arrived at ages 18 and 14, it was to work in a convenience store. Nick made $250 a week putting in up to 84 hours a week. After that humble beginning, the brothers have become major players in the outdoor sports industry.
Not only is their business in the tiny town of Kennedyville surviving, it’s thriving. Nick and Chikki have just expanded to a second Molly’s Place location in Easton, Maryland, home of the famed Waterfowl Festival. This one is purely a sporting goods store (no gas stop or restaurant), conveniently positioned amid Talbot County’s robust waterfowl scene and on the way to hunting hotspots like Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge and Fishing Creek.
Over Labor Day weekend Molly’s Place celebrated the new store’s grand opening. It was met with enthusiasm from locals who, for years, have been asking the Shajwanis when they would bring their business further south. The company estimates some 3,800 people visited over the holiday weekend. When we stopped by for a sneak peek on the eve of the opening, a hopeful customer walked up, asking if Molly’s Place was open yet. “We can’t sell you anything, but come on in! Want to take a look around?” Chikki responded.
The store, like its Kennedyville cousin, boasts distinct sections of fishing and crabbing gear, high-end hunting firearms, decoys and duck calls, bow-hunting equipment, and Molly’s Place-branded shirts and hats, seen on the likes of Baltimore Orioles star (and hunter) Gunnar Henderson. Molly’s Place is the only retailer in the country to carry West Coast outdoor apparel brand Kuiu (they normally sell exclusively direct-to-consumer).
On the day we toured, the last few taxidermy hunting trophies were being displayed. Rustic wood shelving, custom-built by the Molly’s team, had just been put into place. The aesthetic design and specialty gear for sale reminded us of a Bass Pro Shops or a Dick’s Sporting Goods, but more personal. Chikki noted that the taxidermy animals were all harvested by friends and family. He pointed to a wall that was still blank, explaining it is intended as a place for customers to display their own hunting successes in the future.
Chikki and Nick both said that building relationships between employees and customers is a key part of their business. Their sales team doesn’t work on commission, so there’s no extra pressure, and employees are well-versed in outdoor sports. “We’re truly in the hospitality industry,” Chikki told us. He also said they learn a great deal from customers, finding out how buyers in the community are using Molly’s Place products in the field to better inform future decisions.
The Shajwanis learned the importance of community ties in Kent County, thanks to mentors like original Molly’s Place owner Scott Mason. When the brothers were 19 and 22, Mason was their boss at a local hardware store. Nick suggested getting into the hunting sales industry to bring extra business to the hardware store during the slow winter months. Mason later bought hunting supply store/restaurant Vonnie’s in Kennedyville, an upper Eastern Shore institution where many hunters remember checking in their first deer harvest. Mason brought the Shajwanis with him to help run what would become Molly’s Place. Mason named the store after his beloved hunting dog, a black lab you can still see in the company’s logo. A full renovation was completed in 2010, and the Shajwanis bought into the business when Mason retired. They have owned it outright since 2015.
While the original Molly’s Place is about an hour north of Easton, the store made a name for itself at the Waterfowl Festival for several years by manning a tent at the festival’s World Waterfowl Calling Championships. Molly’s Place will be back for the festival with an expanded role. Along with continuing its presence at the calling contest site, the store will also serve as a location for other festival activities, with a shuttle running from downtown to Molly’s Place just off of Easton Parkway (MD 322).
Deena Kilmon, executive director of the 54-year-old Waterfowl Festival, happened to stop by during our interview. She was making a last-minute delivery of an esteemed art piece. It was the original bronze model of the goose sculpture Family Affair, a treasured Easton landmark created for the 1995 Waterfowl Festival by Bart Walter. Its presence underscores how the community is welcoming Molly’s Place.
Chikki and Nick say they’re excited to introduce the store to locals as well as the Waterfowl Festival visitors they see year after year. They want to reach even more outdoor enthusiasts in the future, setting their sights on more locations to come. “The goal is to keep expanding,” Nick told us. “We want to be a national brand, but right now, the Eastern Shore is our home.”
As first-generation immigrants, the Shajwanis acknowledge that Eastern Shore natives sometimes look upon newcomers as “come-here’s” or “chicken neckers”. But Chikki says a shared love for the beauty of the outdoors can transcend those notions among their Eastern Shore customers. “Once they realize you have the same values and morals, not only do they embrace you, but they treat you long long-lost friends. We’re honored we get to serve them.”
