ADC Helps St. Cloud Restaurant Expand for Grocery Section
Somali Café & Restaurant opened for business in 2005 and was the first coffee shop owned by an African immigrant in St. Cloud. The continued growth of the African immigrant population in St. Cloud has led to increased demand for basic groceries, and particularly halal meat products. To fulfill this demand, the owner sought training, lending, and technical assistance from ADC for his plans to remodel some of the available restaurant space into a halal meat and grocery section. The plans for this expansion were approved by the city of St. Cloud and opened for business this past spring.
The owner, Abdi Abukar has ten years experience working, managing, and owning both retail and wholesale businesses in Minnesota. This store is located on the popular East Germaine Street and enjoys a wide customer base of various backgrounds. The Somali Café & Restaurant also caters for local businesses such as banks, schools, and local area clubs. The employees are focused on providing excellent customer service and delivery of catered foods, which has resulted in substantial growth. His personal story is one of survival against the odds.
Abukar painted the walls of his restaurant a bright blue, reminiscent of the cool blue skies above the Indian Ocean and the small coastal Somali town where he was born. As a child he lived in Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital city, and worked in his father’s grocery store.
In 1990, skirmishes broke out in Mogadishu and there was wide-spread revolt against the government. Abukar found himself dodging bullets in the middle of a civil war; he still has the scars from the bullet-wounds on his arms. He managed to escape the violence by finding safety in southern Yemen.. Abukar managed to make a life for himself there for ten years, but always had the dream of coming to America. Unexpectedly, he won the green card lottery program and emigrated to the U.S. permanently in 2000.
Abukar has worked non-stop since his arrival, with his driving motivation to save enough money to start his own business. However, soon after his arrival he was diagnosed with kidney failure and had to undergo dialysis treatments three times a week to keep him alive. Yet, he continued to work full time towards his dream. In 2005, shortly before opening his business, he received a kidney transplant. With his new found health, Abukar now tackles every opportunity with vigor.
His advice to young refugees with a desire to succeed in business is this: Work Hard.
