Donta Rose, a 28-year-old Black entrepreneur, recently opened a $5 million local Grocery Outlet in North Philadelphia in the Sharswood Ridge Shopping Center, writes How Africa.

Rose will manage the new store with the help of his family and friends at the Grocery Outlet, which has more than 400 stores throughout the nation.

Most of the staff working at the new shop are members of the local community.

“While we want to be a successful business, we also want to be connected to the community,” said Melanie, Rose’s mother.

After he completed his engineering studies at Morgan State University, Rose started working at Grocery Outlet, where he designed stores. After he saw a list of future stores and noticed that one was earmarked for the Sharswood section of North Philadelphia, he began considering owning a franchise store.

“That’s where we’re from,” said Rose. “I know the neighborhood. I know how unique this neighborhood is, because if you go four blocks over, you’re on Temple’s campus, and if you go five blocks down, you’re in Brewerytown. It became really important for me to be in a community that we’re familiar with.”

Read more about Donta Rose in How Africa.

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NBC10 Philadelphia’s Miguel Martinez-Valle spoke with community members about what it feels like to finally
have a grocery store in their community, which previously was a food desert.