GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan — A southeast Grand Rapids corner store owner who has served the community for over two decades is now looking to the community for help.
Desmond Chambers, better known to the neighborhood as Dez, has been at the shop known as Mr. B's since 1995. When he stands in the shop door, not much time passes before someone honks or shouts his name as they drive past the shop on Kalamazoo Avenue SE.
"Me and the neighborhood, we became family," said Chambers. "They've been with me forever."
Chambers recently changed the shop's name to Wishes. It's a symbolic change.
"The position I am in right now, it's all a wish," Chambers said Thursday.
Chambers, a father of eight with three in college, said he made the tough decision to close down in late March as the pandemic took hold in Michigan.
"I tried to hang on as long as I could," he said. "My wife started telling me 'You need to start being careful you're dealing with people coming in and out of the store.'"
So he shut down in late March, but costs continued to mount. When he reopened in late June, a construction project just outside his shop impacted sales.
"A lot of my customers don't have a car, you know, they walk. And yeah, I could stay home, but I feel obligated to them," he said. "So, I'm here for them."
He says he's in a bind now. Between costs that mounted over the three-month closure, his dream of remodeling the shop, which currently lacks a sign, have been pushed off even further.
So last week, he and his wife started a GoFundMe. He's also accepting donations at the shop.
"I just need a little help right now to take it to the next level," he said.
Preston Sain, co-founder of Black Wall Street Grand Rapids, said he has been coming to Chambers' shop since he was a teen. Now, his own son comes in with him.
"Dez is still here. He's still an important part of the community," Sain said. "He just needs some support."
Sain, through the Black Wall Street Grand Rapids effort, is hoping to grow and support Black entrepreneurship specifically in the Boston Square area.
"It's just very important that we are intentional about making sure that these small businesses get the awareness and then the support and the resources that they need to make it through the pandemic and sustain thereafter," he said.
Chambers' vision is to first remodel the storefront, but he then hopes to transform the inside into a restaurant and shop. He is known for his burgers.
"If given the chance and the opportunity, it would be the new nice place to go," Chambers said while looking at the building.
Chambers, who moved to the U.S. with his mother from Jamaica at age 11, said transforming this shop into something he can leave for his children is his dream.
"Normally, I try to do whatever I got to do, but this time my hands are pretty tied," he said. "I don't ask for much, if you know me, you know that. But right now, I am limited, and I'd like to make this happen."
Chambers said he also received a small business relief grant for $5,000, which he is putting toward the remodel.
On the wall next to the register at Wishes are thank you notes for each person who has donated over $50 to the cause.
"I believe in this building, I believe in the community," Chambers said. "I think we can make it happen. I got great dreams and great plans. So now, it's all a wish."
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