Every morning, Kia Patterson gets to her Grocery Outlet at 6 a.m. to get it ready to open by 7 a.m. Having worked her whole life in big box retail, she never imagined opening a grocery store near where she grew up, but it’s a move that made sense.

“With Compton being a food desert, I knew I had to open here because I know what Compton needs,” said Patterson. “We need good quality organic foods at very reasonable prices.”

Today, she’s receiving a delivery to restock her store with discounted groceries and household items. And even though she’s the owner-operator, Patterson still drives the forklift and pushes a pallet jack.

“Don’t be embarrassed your boss is showing you up,” said Patterson, to an employee after jumping onto a forklift. 

Patterson is the first and only black female owner of a grocery store in Compton and she’s constantly on the move. Stacking bananas, coconuts, mangoes and berries, it’s one of the few locations organic foods are readily available in South Los Angeles. And nothing goes to waste.

“We have your produce and if you need organics, we have that too. We don’t throw anything away here. We partner with our local churches and also food banks,” said Patterson.

It’s an enormous challenge for this first-time entrepreneur, but she’s already seeing regulars and has received enormous support from her community. 

And Compton isn’t what it used to be. Market trends indicate an increase of nine percent in median home sales over the past year, and people are moving in. 

“We have kimchi and tofu,” said Patterson. “Yeah, you might not expect that here in Compton, but the community is growing and we’re here for it.”

She’s been open a little over a year, but still has few hurdles ahead of her. A small business with 20 employees, minimum wage is set to increase in July and she wants to provide health insurance to her part-time employees.

“With minimum wage about to go up, we’re definitely happy for it, but how are we allowing it to work for the store, I’m making sure that I cross-train all my employees in different departments so I can give them a good skill set,” said Patterson.