In normal times, Yamaguchie on Lark Street sells hand made crafts, clothing, and jewelry, but these aren't normal times.

So Yamar Carter and Rashad King, co-owners and brothers, thought of something that could keep their store open during the coronavirus pandemic: manufacturing face masks.  

“I thought about it; I said, 'what do people need?' ” Carter said this week during an interview at his store. “What do people need right now that was going on? I heard all over the place, 'we can't find any more masks, they're all gone.' ”

Carter and King use their two 3-D printers to make the masks, along with a glue gun, straps, and some clothespins. With a filter, the mask fits comfortably over a person's nose and mouth. They take about two hours to make.

You might think masks like these could be expensive. But Carter and King are just asking people for a donation, money they put back into buying more mask-making material.

“People were scared,” Carter said. “And I thought, well, the least we could do is try to help.”

The masks have proved popular in Albany's Center Square neighborhood. But they didn't know how popular they were until they got a surprise customer: Gov. Andrew Cuomo who dropped by on a Saturday morning. He got two masks and gave a donation.

“Surprised? I was dumbfounded,” Carter said. “I didn't even know, what, Cuomo's here? And he heard about it because somebody was on the street wearing one of our masks.”

For Rashad King, it's gratifying to see people walking around, staying safe with their masks.

“I see people wearing our masks in different places and I'm like, 'wow, why wouldn't I be wearing a mask? Everyone else is wearing them,' ” King said.

The brothers aren't done with their plans to give back, either.

“It's beautiful. It's absolutely beautiful,” King said. “I want to get to the point once we get through the donor list of the people who donated, and I just want to take a couple and pass them out to people.”