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◆ KWASI EVU · FOUNDER · SINCE 2017

519 Port Richmond Avenue, Staten Island. Built by Kwasi Evu in 2017. Eight years and counting.

The shop on Port Richmond Avenue at late-afternoon, sunlight catching the front window and the boots in the display.

◆ THE SHOP ON PORT RICHMOND AVENUE AT LATE-AFTERNOON, SUNLIGHT CATCHING THE FRONT WINDOW AND THE BOOTS IN THE DISPLAY.

A pair of cut-resistant work gloves resting on a tailgate at dawn before a morning shift.

◆ A PAIR OF CUT-RESISTANT WORK GLOVES RESTING ON A TAILGATE AT DAWN BEFORE A MORNING SHIFT.

01

Gloves on a jobsite.

Kwasi Evu started Quazi Supply in 2017. The setup was simple. He'd been working construction, and the guys on his crew kept asking him where to get good gloves cheap. Big-box stores carried the wrong stuff, the right stuff at the wrong price, or both.

So Kwasi started bringing extras to the jobsite and selling them out of his truck before the morning shift. Word traveled. Other crews started showing up.

The bed of a work truck at curbside, loaded with hi-vis vests, hard hats, and stacked boot boxes.

◆ THE BED OF A WORK TRUCK AT CURBSIDE, LOADED WITH HI-VIS VESTS, HARD HATS, AND STACKED BOOT BOXES.

02

The truck.

When demand outgrew the truck-bed setup, Kwasi turned the operation mobile. He built it out into a proper supply route: hi-vis, hard hats, work pants, the boots people couldn't find at Lowe's without paying twice.

He'd hit three or four jobsites before lunch. The crews kept coming back.

An empty curbside parking spot at dawn on a Staten Island commercial street, where the truck used to be parked before a route.

◆ AN EMPTY CURBSIDE PARKING SPOT AT DAWN ON A STATEN ISLAND COMMERCIAL STREET, WHERE THE TRUCK USED TO BE PARKED BEFORE A ROUTE.

03

Then someone robbed the truck.

One day Kwasi pulled up to the jobsite and the truck was gone. Inventory, tools, the route itself, all of it.

Most people would have read that as a sign to fold. Kwasi read it as a sign to stop being mobile.

The exterior of the shop on Port Richmond Avenue, brick facade and front window catching afternoon light.

◆ THE EXTERIOR OF THE SHOP ON PORT RICHMOND AVENUE, BRICK FACADE AND FRONT WINDOW CATCHING AFTERNOON LIGHT.

04

519 Port Richmond.

He opened a brick and mortar at 519 Port Richmond Avenue, Staten Island. A real shop with real shelves and real hours.

Working people from the trades found it within weeks. Plumbers, electricians, ironworkers, roofers, and the small contractors who didn't want to argue with a Tractor Supply manager about whether a boot was actually waterproof.

Inside the shop on a weekday afternoon, shelving stocked with boots and a customer browsing the hi-vis rack.

◆ INSIDE THE SHOP ON A WEEKDAY AFTERNOON, SHELVING STOCKED WITH BOOTS AND A CUSTOMER BROWSING THE HI-VIS RACK.

05

Eight years in.

The shop is still here. About 788 SKUs, 17 brands the trades trust. Bulk pricing for crews, job-site delivery for shops that can't spare the foreman, in-house printing for uniforms.

The same answer to the same question Kwasi was answering off the truck-bed in 2017. Yes, we have what your guys actually need.

"Yes, we have what your guys actually need."

KWASI EVU · ON WHAT THE SHOP IS FOR

Come see the shop he built.

519 Port Richmond Ave, Staten Island, NY 10302

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Closed·opens 11 AM