Two years ago, coffee entrepreneur Kavia Simmons thought she had fallen into the perfect opportunity to take her online store, I Love My Coffee Black, to the next level as a coffee bar in the Save A Lot at 832 W. 63rd St.
Amid promises of hiring community-based and Black vendors, store owner Yellow Banana said she could use existing cafe space in its former Whole Foods building.
The Ohio-based company offered the Auburn-Gresham native a low-risk, low-cost opportunity: She’d pay them 5% of her shop’s monthly sales in exchange for using the space and equipment Whole Foods left behind in 2022…