Historic neighborhood grocery gets funds for facelift

Kalid J. Ibrahim is finally getting the chance to renovate the historic Neighborhood Grocery at 1362 South Main Street. After owning and operating the store for the past decade, Ibrahim was awarded an EDGE loan earlier this month for $18,278 to renovated the nearly 60-year-old building.
 
“Unfortunately the gentleman who owned it before me didn’t keep it up, so over the years the paint got wear and tear and the roof was damaged,” said Ibrahim. “I wasn’t able to get the funds to fix the roof, so when I heard about EDGE I thought it was an opportunity to finally give the store a facelift and make it look better, like something the community could be proud of.”
 
The loan will help fund façade improvements; roof repairs; interior restoration including plumbing, electrical, paint and ceiling work; and HVAC upgrades to the 1,900-square-foot building. 
 
It’s a truly a family business for Ibrahim, as some of his cousins, brothers and sisters own stores also. He had been teaching in Arizona for a few years in the mid-2000s when he decided to take a leap of faith and move his family to Memphis to start a new business.
 
Today the store sells packaged and fresh foods along with personal items. With the new building upgrades, Ibrahim hopes to improve the appearance of the store and add a kitchen to better serve existing customers and attract new customers. 
 
“Many years ago there was a kitchen in this store, and it was really well known,” said Ibrahim. “At that time, there was a church located behind the building, and unfortunately a fire started and reached the back of the store. The kitchen was ruined, and the previous owner never put it back in.”
 
Freddie Coleman is handling the plumbing, electrical and installation of the kitchen equipment, and Carlos Roofing is doing the roof, exterior paint and ceiling work.
 
Ibrahim believes in keeping the jobs at this business within the community. He has hired only people from the immediate neighborhood since he opened, and he plans to hire two cooks to work in the new kitchen by the end of the year.
 
“We’re going to start out with finger food like burgers, chicken and fries, but eventually we will do soul food. That’s the goal,” said Ibrahim.
 
Projects approved for loans by the Economic Development Growth Engine for Memphis and Shelby County (EDGE) since 2011 are projected to create and retain more than 11,000 jobs with $2.1 billion of new investment, $365 million of contracts for MWBEs/LOSBs, and nearly $839 million in new tax revenue for Memphis and Shelby County.