BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) - The community is rallying to save a small business that has been a staple in Burlington’s Old North End for more than a decade, but is now being forced to relocate.
The Mawuhi African Market sits on the corner of North Winooski Avenue and North Street and has provided New Americans with a taste of home for the past 13 years.
The owner, Pat Bannerman, sells African and Caribbean spices and foods.
“It’s like I’m bringing home to them. And I try as much as possible to get whatever they want for them. So, the foods are different and it makes them feel at home,” Bannerman said. “Some things that they crave or they miss. They all want it so they come and tell me and I try to get it for them. It’s a very popular store. People like it.”
One of Bannerman’s customers, Grace Brown, whose family is from Ghana, says it’s nice to have a local market that caters to her family’s culture.
“We do live in Vermont which is a predominantly-white state so to have a place like this where my mom can continue making the foods that she usually makes back home, even though there’s not many resources to buy the same things, it’s nice to have a store like this where she can get those things,” said Brown.
Bannerman has been running the Mawuhi African Market out of the building since 2007. She says a new landlord took over about a year ago.
Bannerman was thrown a curveball in October, when the landlord gave her six weeks’ notice to move out, as he plans to do renovations. Bannerman negotiated and her landlord agreed to let her stay until May 2021 as she continues searching for a new spot.
Bannerman says she has looked at a few options but hasn’t found anything. She says the owners of one of those prospective buildings turned her down.
“They said the market would not be a suitable business for that location. I mean, they have their own reason. I don’t know why,” she said. “Another one that I saw was too small for me and I wanted to break a wall and open it up but they don’t want that. So, I’m still looking.”
Bannerman says her first choice is to stay in the Old North End.
“That would be my wish. Because of the outpouring of love and support that I’ve received in this neighborhood, in the community. Good people,” Bannerman said.
Her customers want her to stay, too.
“I hope she’s able to reopen. Hopefully nowhere too far and we can still all come together and buy her food and support her business because it’s important to support Black businesses especially because there’s not that many in Vermont,” said Brown.
As of this weekend, people have raised more than $25,000 through one GoFundMe and $500 through another account to help Bannerman move. She says she’s grateful.
“We’re supposed to help each other in time of need. And I really really appreciate it,” Bannerman said. “So much love. People have poured out so much love and I really, really appreciate it.”
WCAX News spoke with Bannerman’s landlord on the phone Saturday night. He declined an interview but he did confirm he extended Bannerman’s lease until May 2021.
WCAX also spoke with Will Clavelle at the Community Economic Development Office who is assisting Bannerman in her relocation.
“We’ve toured a couple of spots but we’ve also tried to work with the new property owner to keep her in there longer especially through the holiday season. December is her busiest month sales-wise so we just thought it was really short notice and putting her in a really tough spot,” Clavelle said. “So, we’ve toured a couple of spots and we’ve got some potential options that we’re looking at and the goal right now is to find her a good, long-term home before May and I’m feeling pretty confident that we’ll be able to do that.”
Bannerman says people travel from all across Vermont and New York to shop at the Mawuhi African Market.
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