Former Great Fans shop on Snelling Ave. could become Little Africa Plaza — a pan-African grocery, museum, office and retail center

Frederick Melo, Pioneer Press
·5 min read

Standing in front of the long-vacant Great Fans and Blinds shop on Snelling Avenue, Gene Gelgelu talks up his $4.5 million dream of converting the two-story building into “Little Africa Plaza,” the bustling commercial center of a community on the move.

Measuring nearly 15,000 square feet, the boarded-up building is little more than 12 months away, in his eyes, from reopening as an African foods grocer adjoining two smaller retail stores at ground level, as well as a pan-African museum of continental art and culture.

Upstairs on the second floor, Gelgelu, himself an Ethiopian immigrant, plans to locate the new headquarters of African Economic Development Solutions, the nonprofit he launched on University Avenue in 2008.

‘Little Africa’

Could Little Africa Plaza become the commercial heartbeat of St. Paul’s official “Little Africa” commercial district?

Given the growing numbers of African immigrants in the area — this weekend marked the ninth year of the Little Africa Festival, which closed Snelling from University Avenue to Blair Street to traffic for nine hours — Gelgelu firmly believes the answer is yes.

“When people fit into the fabric of society, they invest,” said Gelgelu, who played no small part in getting Snelling Avenue north of University Avenue dubbed “Little Africa” in 2013. “It’s about job retention. It’s about attracting new talent to an area. They buy a home there because they feel a sense of belonging. Many business owners, we ask them why they started a business here. They say ‘I hang out here. This is where I do my hair and get a cup of coffee.'”

African Economic Development Solutions purchased the dilapidated Great Fans building at 678 Snelling Ave. N. in January of 2021 from New York-based SG National, LLC for a relatively modest $300,000. It’s taken more than two years to assemble most of the $4.5 million in city, state, federal and philanthropic funding — more than 15 different funding sources — needed to even contemplate repairs and an application process for storefront space. Interior renovation is likely to get underway this fall.

The building has sat on the city’s “repair or removal” calendar — a kind of precursor to condemnation — since at least May 2020, a precarious legal designation made even more precarious after a fire around February 2022.

‘A long road’

Council Member Mitra Jalali said a wide variety of city funds have gone into Little Africa Plaza, including upwards of $60,000 in STAR grant dollars awarded directly through her ward office, on top of $1.5 million in capital funds from the state bonding bill and state surplus.

Other funders have included Sunrise Bank, the Otto Bremer Trust, the Neighbors United Funding Collaborative and the federal Community Reinvestment Health Food Financing Initiative, among a bevy of other sources.

Still, arguably the greatest contribution has been the city’s commitment to manage the extensive rehab timeline, which is still a work in progress.

“It had super old wiring, plumbing. It’s an old building. It was pretty seriously damaged (by the fire),” Jalali said. “It’s been a long road, in part, at least on the city side, because we’ve been trying to support the community vision on this site. This is about helping Little Africa have a home to stay.”

She said she hopes that some of the retail space will be used for pop-up booths or small business incubators.

“A lot of African immigrant businesses don’t need, or have capital to have, a permanent brick and mortar space. Some kind of shared space that very small businesses can access — that is ultimately much better than an old, vacant building,” Jalali said. “They’re making progress. They have a lot of support from their respective elected officials. There’s a lot of partnerships in play to make it what it could be.”

Ups and downs along Snelling Avenue

The structure, constructed in 1926, adjoins but does not include the Bella Hair Salon and Sole Traditional Korean Restaurant, two hold-outs in the center of a block otherwise bookended by tired, vacant storefronts.

Reviving half a commercial city block is a a big dream for a stretch of Snelling Avenue that’s dotted by hits and misses. Empty former retailers sit next to popular but sparsely decorated restaurants, as well as some commercial enterprises.

The sizable CVS pharmacy that once anchored the corner of Snelling and University avenues closed in March 2022, followed more recently by the longstanding Fasika Ethiopian restaurant across the street. Heading north on Snelling toward Hamline University, a Holiday gas station still draws plenty of customers, as does the Ginkgo Coffeehouse, which frequently hosts live music and an open mic night.

Like the live performances at Ginkgo, the goal of installing a museum in Little Africa Plaza is that “we’re using art and culture as a catalyst for economic development strategies,” said Tsegaye Gelgelu, organizer of the Little Africa Festival and director of Community Building and Advocacy with AEDS.

All in all, the Little Africa corridor hosts a mixed-bag of challenges and opportunities, though Gelgelu is banking on creating more of the latter.

Launching a business

As he explains his vision on Monday, he’s interrupted twice — first by a visibly disabled panhandler, and then by the owner of a shiny new catering van, who pulled over after spotting his friend and mentor on the sidewalk.

The caterer is Chef Nessib Negusse, who effusively recounts walking into African Economic Development Solutions in 2016 with a degree from Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts but no idea how to launch his own business.

“I said Gene, I need help,” Negusse recalled.

That same day, Gelgelu helped Negusse fill out an application for a catering license. Before long, Negusse was providing meals to high schools and charter schools. Then he opened his own restaurant — the Hilltop International in South St. Paul — in 2021, as well as the Hilltop Coffeeshop in the Hennepin County Government Center.

“He is one of the best,” said Negusse, beaming after encountering his old friend. “He’s my base. Information is one of the keys to help small businesses to grow. He helps everybody, not just Ethiopian people — all the people.”

Related Articles