Marble City Vapor opened at 714 South Gay Street a couple of months ago, making the third hemp/THCA business to open there in the last couple of years. I met with co-owner Hapep Abuzahra (his partner, Moe Saleh owns two businesses in Nashville) to talk about the new business and to learn what distinguishes it from its neighbors.
Born in Palestine, his family moved him to just outside Murfreesboro when he was an infant. “I’m a true Tennessean.” He grew up in Nashville and attended community college after high school. He walked into one of Moe’s stores and asked if he needed help. Moe is Yemini and Hapep said the Yemini’s and Palestinians “take care of each other.” He learned the business and as his knowledge grew, Moe suggested they open a store (under a different brand) together.
“Knoxville is always a city I’ve wanted to come to. I’ve always seen the energy here. I went to the Smoky Mountains with my family and Knoxville was always a stop.” Excited when he saw the location in downtown Knoxville, he said, “I had to.” He said that after a lengthy search, encountering hesitant landlords, this was the best option they found. “We really had to explain what we sold. We had to convince them.” He said a trip to his partner’s shops moved the needle on getting a green light.
He said there is a stigma related to their type of business, but he sees it from a very different perspective. “It makes a safer area. You are taking people that are meeting random people off the street (for pot) and bringing them into a business that has licensing, that has proper product that isn’t going to hurt you. That’s another reason I fell in love with this business.” He told a story of a friend who bought weed off the street and later learned it was laced with fentanyl. He was hospitalized for two weeks. “Thankfully he got out of it, but not a lot of people do.”
He said that he feels that is one of the reasons he is here. “I’m here to counteract that, to sell the best quality products that I possibly can at an affordable price that can compete with the street, coming from an actual licensed business. We have a hemp license.” He said that the requirement to have that license hits this fall and, as a result, many businesses currently selling the product may have to stop.
“Tennessee has hired, I think it was three hundred compliance officers. They will go into stores, make sure you have a hemp license, make sure you are selling safe products. They are definitely regulating this market, and they are also taxing it. They just enforced a six percent delta tax.” He thinks that will give some businesses an opening to increase prices, something he is trying to avoid.
The business opened July 4. For Hapep it marked the accomplishment of his goal of opening his own business before age twenty. He celebrated his twentieth birthday nine days later, on July 13. “I had a full we when I was a business owner at age nineteen.” He said entrepreneurship runs in his family. He said his father and uncles worked at Wendy’s and saved money to purchase a gas station, which then led to a car dealership. “Seeing the evolution of my family from being broke immigrants to finding a place in America was truly eye-opening . . . I always told my parents I’m going to open a business that’s going to be ten times bigger than yours!”
He said business has been good from the beginning from both locals and tourists. He plans to build the business from there. “Tourists love Knoxville. They are here for a couple of hours and fall in love with the peace. They fall in love with beauty. The locals are some of the nicest people I’ve ever met. People around here have the best vibes.” At that, I asked if he had ever considered politics. (He has.)
The first difference you’ll notice when you walk in the door is the very cool reflective floor and the lighting, all of which gives the shop a vibe all its own. He said he wanted the store to have something of everything. “You can come here for Kratom products, nicotine vapes, THCA flowers, pins, gummies. We also have glassware. We have hookah products, we have candles. If you’re a smoker there is something for you. I think our flower is some of the best quality in east Tennessee . . . We source it straight from Washington, Oregon, and California.” He said the prices are some of the best you’ll find and for nicotine vapes, he thinks you’ll find the biggest selection of anywhere in the area and the prices, he said, are much better than others.
He encourages customers to ask for the COA (the detailed report) at stores they frequent. It’s the report that tells you what is in the product, and he is very proud that their product gives you what is advertised, without chemical additives which might be harmful or dangerous. You’ll also find the full lab report by scanning the QR code on the products.
Should you decide to drop in, check out the cool look of the place and introduce yourself to Hapep. He said he’d love to chat with you and hear from you if you have suggestions for additional items you’d like to see him carry. He’ll likely be behind the counter, or you might see his girlfriend, Lilli Ross, who is pictured here with him and fills in, as well. He also said to check out special deals on game days and other event days downtown. “We enhance your experience in downtown Knoxville.”
The store is open seven days a week starting at 9:00 am each morning and closing at midnight Sunday through Thursday, and 1:00 am Friday and Saturday.