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Inwood Convenience Store Steps Into the Future on Facebook

By Carla Zanoni | December 23, 2011 6:53am
The Optimo 207 Candy store was opened by a Ottman's parents during the 1980s when his parents moved to Inwood from Yemen,
The Optimo 207 Candy store was opened by a Ottman's parents during the 1980s when his parents moved to Inwood from Yemen,
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DNAinfo/Carla Zanoni

INWOOD — Throughout Manhattan, the classic Optimo candy store — with its well-known, hand-painted awning hawking cigars, candy and other items — is quickly becoming a thing of the past. 

But one uptown mom-and-pop shop is not only thriving on a busy corner, it is expanding to a new frontier — Facebook

Wallid Ottman, 21, the son of a Yemeni couple who opened the Optimo 207 candy store more than 30 years ago on West 207th Street near Broadway, spent his days running the small shop that sells an array of scratch-off lottery tickets, snacks, newspapers and candy.

Passing time behind the counter on his laptop, Ottman decided to set up the social-networking page on a whim. 

He then let customers know about the page through a more traditional medium — a handwritten sign taped to the window of the shop. 

“I’m always on it, so I thought ‘Why not?’” said Ottman, who explained that he uses social media to learn more about his customers, as well as communicate with them online.

“For now I’m using my own social network to see what’s new and figure out what they’re into, so we can carry those products in the store.” 

Ottman, who was born and raised in Inwood, grew up online trying out a bevy of social-media sites, like Skonex and MySpace, before moving on to Facebook and Twitter.

His parents, Saleh and Jamilah Ottman, opened the shop in the 1980s after moving to New York from Yemen, and although they are supportive of Ottman finding new ways to promote the store, they remain skeptical. 

“My dad is OK with anything that helps the business, ” he said. 

Customers inside the shop said they liked the idea of the store using social media to connect.

“I come here all the time, this is another way to feel connected,” said Mohammed Ahmed, 55, who works as a security guard for a nearby Citibank branch on Broadway. 

The Facebook page is still in its nascent stage, and Ottman said he is trying to figure out how to start a conversation with his regulars and new customers while his juggling his workload at LaGuardia Community College, where he is studying to become a nurse. 

“I’m really not sure what to write yet, but I want to find new people,” he said. 

Ottman is not alone in his social-media venture.

For companies with little to no budgets for advertising, social-media tools such as Facebook or Twitter make sense for bringing in new customers or expanding a loyal base. 

In Inwood, restaurants including Inwood Local wine bar and beer garden on Broadway and Indian Road Cafe on Indian Road have created Twitter accounts to reach customers, as have others such as Brazen Lingerie on Dyckman Street and Dichter Pharmacy on Broadway. 

“We’re all so connected online, why not make new relationships that way and then in real life?” Ottman said. “Social media is going to change the way we do things in general. It’s not going away.”