Ronald Hazel, the legendary retailer known as Ronny whose wildly psychedelic store, Shop Therapy, has been attracting head-shop fans to Provincetown since 1978, died at his home on Center Street on May 25, 2025. The cause was asphyxiation due to choking. Found by his son Adam, Ronny was rushed to Cape Cod Hospital but could not be revived. He was 76.
In 2007, Ronny was diagnosed with throat and neck cancer. His son Keith said the cancer was so severe that his father looked like he had half a neck until reconstructive surgery replaced his jaw, neckline, and teeth. But the damage and scar tissue made keeping food down increasingly difficult.
The son of the late Eugene and Vivian Hazel, Ronald was born on Sept. 27, 1948 and raised in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he attended St. Brendan’s Elementary School and Abraham Lincoln High School.
He was drafted into the Army and served as a “tunnel rat” in Vietnam. Because of his size, it was his job to go into tunnels once an area had been cleared to search for Viet Cong. He earned two Purple Hearts, a Bronze Star, and several air medals for having flown 125 hours over hostile territory.
Ronny and his then-wife Yolanda arrived in Provincetown following a trip to California, where they met the sister of Isaac “Zukie” Saada, another renowned Provincetown retailer. They were mentored by Saada, who then owned the former Provincetown Historical Museum building where Front Street restaurant is located. The Hazels’ first store, Adam’s Alley, named for their first born, was there from 1974 to 1978.
Adam’s Alley gave way in 1978 to Shop Therapy, which can only be described as a psychedelic paradise. Originally at 346 Commercial St., this “alternative lifestyle emporium” eventually settled in at 286 Commercial, the old Provincetown Bowlaway. Both properties had been owned by Saada. Adam Hazel described his father and Saada, known for the rubber chickens on his storefront, as adherents of the 1970s hippie counterculture, a lifestyle from which Ronny never truly recovered. His nephew Ryan Hazel said Ronny was a man who did what he wanted, even if it may have been against the law.
Ronny traveled the world purchasing merchandise for his stores — a second outlet is in Northampton. Joey Mars, the artist who painted the front of Provincetown’s Shop Therapy, said that if Ronny saw a young craftsperson just starting out, “He’d give the kid an order.”
All agree that Ronny’s work ethic was epic. He loved what he did, said Joey, loved his customers, and knew how to make them happy.
He was also known for generosity to his staff. Francine Kraniotakis, general manager of George’s Pizza, said Ronny would find places for them to live and give them clothes and food. He stayed in touch with people who had worked for him even for a short time, said Joey.
Keith said his father “was trying to be a good Catholic,” taking special care of people who were shunned. His goddaughter Etel Amato said Ronny would do anything for anybody. “You could write a book on this,” she said. Even while traveling the world searching for merchandise, he never missed Mass.
He was a close friend of the late artist Ray Nolan, also a devout Catholic. The two would pray together and read the Magnificat.
Ronny’s religious devotion stood in stark contrast to his earlier life running the streets, said Keith. “He was always hustling to make a buck and had a long rap sheet since he was a kid,” he said. Ronny’s ex-wife Yolanda said she met him at 17 when she bought a nickel bag of pot from him.
In 1992, Ronny was arrested in Providence, R.I. after a traffic stop for possession of LSD in the company of two minors. Keith said his father had actually taken the drugs away from some other kids because he was worried they would get into trouble. He spent a year in the Rhode Island House of Corrections and was released for time served when it was determined that his arrest was the result of an illegal search and seizure.
Ronny was also arrested for tax evasion in 1995, but because of his military service record he was sentenced only to house arrest.
In addition to his sons, Ronny is survived by his brothers, Eugene and wife Sandy of Florida and Bruce and wife Ann Marie of Orleans; his sister, Donna Hazel, and husband Robert Bosalavage of Brooklyn, N.Y.; his grandchildren, Aiden Keith Hazel and Makayla Rey Hazel of Brooklyn, Michael Reed Hazel and Ava Gene Hazel of Worcester, Kaiden Andrew Durant of Northampton, Christian Shane Hazel of Thousand Oaks, Calif., and Jacob Rowen Wolfsun of Greenfield; and his ex-wife, Yolanda Cruz of Florida.
A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on June 2 at St. Peter the Apostle Church in Provincetown, followed by burial with full military honors in St. Peter’s Cemetery. Before the funeral, Father Phil Hamel, who presided over the services, went to Shop Therapy and bought a tie-dyed T-shirt, which he wore over his cassock.
