Gift shop has relocated and open
Nicole Blessing-Akhter, owner of Sojourner’s Blessing gift shop on Route 118 in Dallas.
Bill O’Boyle | Times Leader
Hand-made jewelry items are for sale at Sojourner’s Blessing gift shop on Route 118 in Dallas.
Bill O’Boyle | Times Leader
Women’s purses and backpacks on display at Sojourner’s Blessing gift shop on Route 118 in Dallas.
Bill O’Boyle | Times Leader
Some of the items on display at Sojourner’s Blessing gift shop on Route 118 in Dallas.
Bill O’Boyle | Times Leader
More items, like men’s and women’s hats, are for sale at Sojourner’s Blessing gift shop on Route 118 in Dallas.
Bill O’Boyle | Times Leader
New York City novelty items are for sale at Sojourner’s Blessing gift shop on Route 118 in Dallas.
Bill O’Boyle | Times Leader
Nicole Blessing-Akhter and her husband Javied (Ali) Akhter with their children, Javied, 9, and Noor, 7.
DALLAS — When you walk into Sojourner’s Blessing gift shop, you really don’t know where to browse first.
As the owner, Nicole Blessing-Akhter, will tell you, there is a lot to check out at the store on Route 118, just off the Dallas Highway.
Blessing and her husband, Javied (Ali) Akhter, recently relocated their store from Wyoming Borough to Dallas. They have operated the business for six years since moving to Luzerne County from New York City.
”In 2020, my husband was stuck in Pakistan for six months due to international flight suspensions during COVID,” Nicole said. “At the time, we were living in New York City, where he had owned and operated a store in Times Square for 26 years. With a 1- and a 3-year-old, I returned home to my parents in Kingston, Pennsylvania.”
Nicole said when my husband was finally able to come home, New York City was still in lockdown.
“Business had changed drastically — Times Square felt like a ghost town,” she said. “That’s when we made the decision to build a new life in Pennsylvania.”
Out of survival, Nicole said they opened a gift shop in Wyoming during the height of the pandemic in 2020.
“We also began renovating my grandmother’s 1926 cottage at Harveys Lake, planting our roots here,” Nicole said. “We commuted every day — sometimes twice a day — to Wyoming, all the while searching for the right storefront in the Back Mountain area.”
This year, Nicole said they were incredibly fortunate to find the perfect space next to Lakeway Beverage — just 5 minutes from their home and 10 minutes from their children’s school.
“We are so grateful to now have our shop so close to home,” Nicole said. “Sojourner’s Blessing is a variety gift shop with a little something for everyone. We can’t wait to grow our community bigger in the Back Mountain.”
Nicole offered a brief tour of the store, showing off everything on display and for sale. She showed displays of jewelry, women’s accessories, men’s and women’s hats, pajminas, purses, New York City novelty items, incense, knick-knacks, metal signs and much more.
For more information, call 570-392-3313.
Javied (Ali) Akhter owns the wholesaling business Touch of New York along with Jaan Development Corp.
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Reach Bill O’Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.