The day after Thanksgiving is known as black Friday for it's ability to put retailers in the black. For the owners of
Africana it was opening day and time to fly the colors of their business, the first in Kalamazoo to offer African groceries, art work, and custom-made clothing.
Since that first day in 2012, business has been steadily growing as word of mouth regarding the store has spread, says Cheryl Anakwa, co-owner of the store along with her husband Henry.
The idea for the store grew out of Henry's desire to have the food of the homeland he left 20 years ago. "Henry is from Ghana, West Africa, and he has never been able to get the food from his country here. We wanted to fill that void," Cheryl says.
The demand for such a store in a community the size of Kalamazoo is still something the couple is testing, but international students from Western Michigan University, Pfizer employees, international employees from local hospitals and others who have traveled to West Africa and developed a taste for its food are all part of the market they are targeting.
Henry Anakwa travels to West Africa to do the buying for many of the novelty items and the art work sold in the store. The produce comes via New York through a wholesaler there. The custom clothing is created by a family member who is a seamstress. Patrons order from a catalog and she tailors clothing with an African flair for them.
Among the early successes for the business has been its shea butter and black soap. Shea butter is a natural moisturizer that has anti-aging properties and can be used to treat everything from bug bites to eczema. Black soap is a head-to-toe cleanser that can be used to wash your hair and the rest of your body. It evens skin tones and helps with acne.
From the grocery aisle, goat meat and African yams have been popular among customers. The store's
website helps customers keep track of what's new as they listen to the drumming sounds so prevalent in West Africa while they browse.
The 1,000-square-foot store shares a building at 2307 Gull Road with a computer business and a tax service company. If all goes according to plan, the store will be the seed of the area's first international market.
"We're really just starting," Cheryl Anakwa says. "We want this to become a full international food market and expand in the future to serve other countries from East and South Africa."
Writer: Kathy Jennings, Second Wave Media
Source: Cheryl Anakwa, Africana Market
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.