Detroit’s first Black-owned food co-op draws a crowd

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.”

For $200, anyone who is 21 or older and lives in Michigan can become a member-owner of the store. That allows them to vote in elections for the Detroit People’s Food Co-op board of directors. And any year the store is profitable, the board can approve paying a share of profits to member-owners, according to the Detroit People’s Food Co-op’s site.

“Around food security, we’re starting to understand how important it is as we’re getting older and having families of our own, so this is big,” Morrow said.

Karen Prall of Detroit, a dance instructor at Wayne State University, has been promoting the co-op since she knew it was coming. She became a member-owner Wednesday along with more than 100 others and said she’d shop at the store another time when there weren’t long lines of customers.

“When I drove up here, I wanted to cry. This is the way it’s supposed to be,” Prall said. “It’s supposed to be jam-packed like this with people coming in, hugging each other, and giving each other love. I know who the owners are and that makes me feel good. I feel like I’m a part of this. It’s not just coming in here shopping — it’s an experience.”

Black vendors manned pop-up stands in the store offering sweet samples from D-Lo’s Bakery, Zella’s Bakery and Sepia Coffee. Between aisles, two whiteboards stood where visitors could write suggestions for store operations and make recommendations for new products to stock.

Yakini founded the Detroit Black Community Food Sovereignty Network in 2006, which led to D-town Farm, the largest urban farm in Detroit, totaling 7 acres. It now grows crops for the Detroit People’s Food Co-op.

“Our mission is in helping our community become more self-reliant. It’s not rooted in making money. We have to make money to accomplish the mission, but the purpose is not to make money. The purpose is to uplift our people,” he said.

In addition to the grocery store, the building houses commercial kitchens for Detroit Food Commons for culinary vendors to rent the space as well as banquet halls and ballrooms.

The Detroit Food Commons is being financed through a combination of donations, grants, loans and new markets tax credits obtained by the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network and Develop Detroit Inc.

The Detroit People’s Food Co-op is a member of National Co-op Grocers for its deeper discounts on bulk food orders. The co-op is open every day from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

mjohnson@detroitnews.com

@_myeshajohnson