About Kalustyan's

Kalustyan's is a legendary international spice and food shop located at 123 Lexington Avenue in Manhattan's Curry Hill neighborhood, which first opened its doors in 1944 and has since become arguably the largest international spice shop in New York City, selling over 10,000 products from more than 80 countries . The store was founded by Kerope Kalustyan, an Armenian immigrant from Turkey, who initially sold Turkish and Middle Eastern spices, dried fruits, nuts, oils, and grains when the surrounding neighborhood was known as "Little Armenia" and home to a significant Armenian community . In the late 1960s and 1970s, as New York became home to a large number of Indian immigrants, Kalustyan's expanded to cater to the Indian market, introducing its own brand of chutney and mango pickles, and the store became a popular meeting place for Indians, helping to transform the area into what is now nicknamed "Curry Hill" or "Little India" . The building itself has remarkable historical significance—it was originally constructed for President Chester A. Arthur in the 1860s, and Arthur was inaugurated as the 21st President of the United States on an upper floor of this very building, where he also signed the Civil Service Act . After Arthur's death, the building was sold to a young William Randolph Hearst, who ran the New York Journal from there . The shop changed hands over the years, with Kerope Kalustyan eventually selling to a relative and employee named John Bas, before being purchased in 1988 by Bangladeshi businessmen Sayedul Alam and Aziz Osmani, who dramatically expanded the store's offerings and added an eat-in café/deli on the second floor .