My name is Robert, and I’m asking for help protecting a small business, a hardworking team, and a place that has felt like home to many people for more than a decade.

Since 2012, our smoke shop and tattoo studio in Newark’s Ironbound community has worked hard to be more than just a business. Our motto has always been, “When you’re here, you’re home.” We have tried to live that out by treating every person who walks through our doors with kindness, respect, and genuine care.

That same spirit exists within our team. We treat one another and look out for each other like family, and throughout these 14 years, I have worked hard to cultivate and protect that kind of environment. Several members of our team have been with us for more than six years. They are not simply employees—they are family. They have stood beside me, supported one another, and helped make the shop what it is today.

We have also been longtime advocates for hemp, cannabis reform, and responsible access to natural and holistic products. Recent regulatory changes in New Jersey—particularly those affecting hemp-derived products such as THCA—have dramatically reduced what we can legally sell. Reliable vendors stopped distributing into New Jersey, our market narrowed almost overnight, and a major source of revenue disappeared.

We have chosen to follow the law and do things the right way, even though that decision has made it extremely difficult to remain open.

I have done everything I can to absorb the impact myself before allowing it to fall on my team. I started taking on junk removal, property cleanouts, repair work, and other physically demanding jobs through my company, Hands of Renewal. The income from that work has helped me continue supporting the shop and avoid laying people off for as long as possible. I’m willing to keep working wherever and however I can, but the loss in revenue has become greater than I can overcome through extra work alone.

This fundraiser is not about avoiding change or asking others to carry a burden I haven’t carried myself. It is about protecting the people who depend on this business and giving us enough time and stability to adapt responsibly.

The funds we’re trying to raise will help us:

• Catch up on essential operating expenses and keep the doors open

• Protect the jobs of the people who have helped build and sustain the shop

• Maintain the licenses, insurance, utilities, and other costs required to operate responsibly

• Expand and promote our tattoo studio and other compliant services

• Transition our retail inventory toward products permitted under New Jersey’s changing regulations

• Create enough breathing room to build a sustainable path forward

I know many people are facing struggles of their own, and asking for help is not easy for me. I have invested years of my life into this shop, but what makes it worth fighting for is the community and the people connected to it.

If this business has ever welcomed you, helped you, given you a place to feel comfortable, or simply treated you like family, I’m asking you to help us through this season. Any contribution—large or small—will make a genuine difference. If you are unable to donate, sharing this fundraiser would mean just as much.

Thank you for believing in small businesses, second chances, and the value of a place where people can still walk in and feel at home.

With gratitude,

Robert

“When you’re here, you’re home.”