Though Julie Miessi has dreamed of owning a store since she was a 7-year-old girl growing up in Ivory Coast, she never really expected it to become a reality.
“Honestly, a year ago, I would have never imagined that I would really be in this position and doing this job,” Miessi said.
Miessi, who has a bachelor’s degree in microbiology and a master’s degree in environmental science, had been working as a senior microbiologist in Santa Fe Springs for five years when she was suddenly laid off at the beginning of this year. Defeated and hurt, she decided to try something different.
Miessi opened Idowu Afro Carribean Market near the corner of East Broadway and Esperanza Avenue on Aug. 8, excited to return to her African roots and bring something new to the neighborhood.
“I had brainstormed all kinds of ideas, and this one is the one that made the most sense to me, because we don’t really have that here. We don’t have an Afro Caribbean food convenience store in this area,” Miessi said.
With her background in science, Miessi carefully researched Long Beach’s population and compared zip codes before deciding on a location for her store.
Her husband, whom she named the store after, helped set up the store’s shelves, which are now stocked with staple food items from Africa and the Caribbean, including fufu, Jamaican jerk seasoning, couscous, palm oil and ginger beverages.
The products Miessi sells are all imported from countries including Ghana, Nigeria, Morocco, Belize, Jamaica and Puerto Rico. There are also a couple from the Netherlands and France.
Miessi loves being able to honor the cultures from the many countries represented in her store and celebrate the diversity in Long Beach.
“A shop like this is very important in this community,” Miessi said. “[It] brings diversity, and the kids are able to know that there are other types of food.”
She recalls a couple of kids excitedly coming in, their faces lighting up when they saw multiple types of the traditional West African food.
“It brings joy to my heart to see them,” Miessi said.
At first, Miessi was worried that her store wouldn’t be accepted in the community, but then someone posted a photo of the shopfront in the Long Beach Food Scene Facebook group, which garnered a lot of attention. People started calling to ask about the store a month before it opened.
One person even called at 4 a.m. one day, Miessi said.
“They were so excited for us to start,” she said.
Some of the items available in the store — items like the meat patties from Jamaica, Marie Sharp’s hot sauce from Belize and Ovaltine, which is popular in both Africa and the Caribbean — are there because people requested them.
Miessi plans to expand her offerings in the future to make more use of the space. She hopes to start selling some non-food items as well and install another fridge to hold more drinks.