The owner of Dannevirke's Good Value store was confronted with a teen wielding a knife, demanding cigarettes on Saturday.
"I was shaken, but I'm okay now," the male shopkeeper, who didn't wish to be identified, told the Dannevirke News.
"I just want to forget about it."
The teen who was alleged to have threatened the shopkeeper ran from the scene on foot, Senior Sergeant Jymahl Glassey of the Tararua Police, said.
The robbery took place at 5pm on Saturday while the shopkeeper was alone in the store.
"He got away with a decent amount of cigarettes and pouch tobacco," Mr Glassy said. "But it didn't take long to find him and a youth was arrested on Saturday."