Detroit — Malik Yakini envisioned a grocery store that offered healthy food choices, one owned and operated by Black people in the city.

On Wednesday morning, his vision came to life. Detroit People’s Food Co-op on Woodward Avenue opened for business after being in the works for more than a decade — 14 years, to be exact.

“We decided on the north end because it’s predominantly Black and predominantly lower-income, and so we wanted a community that actually had a need, not just a community that had a lot of wealth,” said Yakini, a Detroiter.

Hundreds flocked to the store on opening day, filling up the parking lot and lining Euclid Street with parked cars. Inside looked more like a family reunion, with customers who’ve long awaited the opening hugging, smiling, crying and saying things like “we did it,” “this is so nice” and “this is unreal.”

The $22 million co-op is owned by more than 2,600 residents of Michigan who are primarily Black and from Detroit. It is the first Black-owned and operated co-op in the Motor City. The building is owned by Develop Detroit Inc. and the Detroit Black Community Food Sovereignty Network.

Funding for the co-op includes: $6 million from grants and local philanthropy, $1 million in gifts — including a “pretty sizable donation from a former professional Detroit athlete” — and the rest from loans in the form of debt financing and new market tax credits. 

“Everything that we’re doing is about empowering and uplifting Black people,” Yakini said. “By working together is the way we can galvanize our power and our wealth.”

Terian Morrow and her daughter, Andaiye, of Detroit were among the crowd Wednesday, and they purchased vegetables from the store. Terian Morrow, 42, is a member-owner who bought into Yakini’s vision years ago.

“Seven years ago, Malik Yakini did this whole spiel about all his plans for building this grocery store. He was asking for people to become member-owners of something that did not exist, that we had no concept of, but it was going to be a real thing that was going to be in the city,” Terian Morrow said. “Everything he said is what is it except for the member-ownership is actually cheaper than he said they would be.”