Community invests in proposed West Oakland grocery store

Community Foods Market CEO Brahm Ahmadi speaks to a group of residents from Oakland and neighboring cities about the progress of the grocery store's construction at a site tour on October 13.

Ahmadi said he had no choice but to fundraise from residents, rather than taking a more traditional path such as a loan from a bank. On paper, the project showed a high risk of failure “both because it’s a start-up and a low-margin business—also because of the perceptions of the challenges of the neighborhood,” said Ahmadi.

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