Foreign herbs and spices may soon transform a Harlem vacancy into a local taste of Africa.
Caranda Fine Foods, a specialty retailer that manufactures African coffees, teas, chocolates, herbs, and spices, has expressed serious interest in filling a vacancy on St. Nicholas Avenue and 118th Street in West Harlem, and the landlord, the Harlem Community Development Corporation (HCDC), is currently preparing to make their final decision on the deal.
This Friday, the HCDC will vote to decide whether or not they will move forward with a lease to Caranda CEO and founder Doughba H. Caranda-Martin.
In a preliminary vote last month, the board was in favor of offering the property to Martin, with the exception of State Senator Bill Perkins, who expressed concerns about disrupting the tight-knit Senegalese community on St. Nicholas Avenue. He, along with several other board members, said that they wanted to know more about the company—which now only runs a factory in the Bronx—before they signed the lease.
For several board members though, Caranda Fine Foods represents an opportunity to boost the local economy and bring life to a quiet street.
Curtis Archer, president of the HCDC, said that the vacancy desperately needs to be filled and Caranda-Martin is the perfect person to do it.
“This deal would be a real plus to the community,” Archer said in interview last week. “This property has been vacant for how long, can you say years? St. Nicholas is a tough block. It’s not as commercial as 7th or 8th [Avenues].”
Plus, he added about Caranda-Martin, “This is a businessman from the community. He’s going to employ locally.”
Assemblyman Keith Wright, chair of the HCDC board, recently expressed cautious support of the new commercial development.
“He’s supportive of the project, insofar as it will spur economic activity in the quarter,” Jeanine Johnson, Wright’s chief of staff, said in interview last week. “It’s a niche market, so I don’t think it’ll hurt retailers in that area,” she said.
“I’m confident, very confident, that it will be a unanimous vote of yes,” Archer said of the approaching vote.
Caranda-Martin, a Liberian immigrant and a local artist, said he was excited for the opportunity to offer a wide variety of authentic African products to his neighbors in Harlem, where he has lived for 14 years. “Most people don’t think of Africa when they think of teas,” he said, adding that his product labels would prove otherwise.
Along with a larger social agenda of promoting, preserving, and protecting the agricultural development of Africa, on a more local level, Caranda-Martin says he wants to get along with the neighborhood as a business owner.
“Everyone is very supportive and excited,” he said. “We have established great relationships with the Senegalese community.”
Caranda-Martin also expressed confidence that his business would not suffer recession pains, since there is little competition for his niche products. He said that he expects he will simply be adding “more choices to the wonderful mix already occurring.”
Local residents expressed mixed feelings about a new merchant in town.
Muhamed Bakayoko, a Senegalese immigrant who lives and works nearby the proposed intersection for the store, said it was exactly what the community needed. “It’s a good idea to add more diversity of African foods,” Bakayoko said, adding, “If the food is from West Africa then that means we will have more trust with the store.”
Local resident Adrienne Rivera was not as thrilled.
“I’m not excited about it,” she said of her frustrations with the local area which she feels caters only to one ethnic market.
She added, “There’s no good food here … no diner, no delivery service, no bagel shop. It’s my biggest complaint about where I live.”
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