African grocer eyes Palatine location at former vape shop
An African grocery store plans to move into to the Fleetwood Center shopping mall in Palatine.
The Planning and Zoning Commission on Tuesday recommended the village board approve Debjos African Food LLC’s request to move into a space at 401 N. Northwest Highway.
Oluwatoyin Warren plans to reopen a store that recently closed at 3989 W. Algonquin Road in Rolling Meadows. She said she plans to sell dry and frozen goods.
She said her aim is to sell convenient and affordable high quality groceries and other items from Africa and the U.S.
Her business plan said her “main mission is to help Africans locate food and items easily in our store.”
Dry goods would include yam, cocoa yam, plantain, bell pepper, habanero pepper, dry African fishes, dry shrimp and crawfish, Fufu, Garri, Cassaa flakes, Plantain flour, pounded yam, corn flour, indomie noodles, lettuce beans and plantain chips.
Some of the frozen goods include hard Nigerian chicken, goat meat and turkey. Among the other items would be soft drinks from Africa.
The store would be open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week.
The 900-square-foot space was formerly occupied by a vape shop that closed in May 2023. Other stores in the mall include a comic book store, a nail salon, a barber shop, an insurance agent and a financial services business.
“This is a very good, unique use of a vacant space,” commissioner Kevin Cavanaugh said.