Middle Eastern import store and Atlantic Avenue fixture Sahadi’s will see a changing of the guard this week when its current owner — the gregarious 71-year-old Charlie Sahadi — retires.

The family patriarch has run the shop for 51 years after taking it over from his father, who opened it in 1941. This week, he will pass on operation to the next generation, his daughter Christine and son Ron, the Observer reports.

One of Atlantic Avenue’s longest-standing businesses, Sahadi’s has grown to three storefronts, offering more than 250 cheese varieties and a counter of house-made Middle Eastern eats, among some 5,000 other globally imported products. Colorful jars containing familiar and foreign nuts, candies and other sweets bring an old-school appeal to the shop, which is beloved by locals old and new.

Charlie’s retirement need not make dedicated customers fear for change, however. While the neighborhood continues to grow upward in its rents, rising condos and increasingly high-end retailers, Charlie’s children plan to keep everything much the same. They know that shoppers enjoy the spot for its authentic charms as well as its delicious eats and reasonable prices.

“Very little change will be visible to the customers, because the customers are happy,” Christine told the Observer, noting that visible differences will likely end at a new coat of paint.

[Source: NYO]

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