By Joe Jarosz
Northeast News
September 2, 2015

KANSAS CITY, Missouri – Sometimes, you have to pack-up and move to start over. For the Abdalla brothers, it was only a matter of moving five blocks south.

This past August, Bakar Abdalla and his brothers re-opened the Al Rahman Mediterranean Market at 2536 Independence Ave. The café, previously called Al Rahman Café, was located at 2201 Lexington Ave. Now, Bakar and his brothers are in a bigger store with more foot traffic along Independence Avenue.

“We’re excited for the move into the new location,” Bakar said.

The reason for the move was pretty simple and easy, he said. Business had slowed down over the last few months at the old location.

“It just didn’t work out there,” Bakar said.

Not wanting to leave the Northeast, he said they chose their current location because the previous owner is a friend and they were able to work out a deal.

“We wanted to grow and continue being part of the community,” Bakar said, adding that the option to stay close to their home where they have many friends and family in the community, also played a huge factor.

Now, they’re no longer just a café. The store, now an international marketplace, offers groceries and little shops that sell international goods, such as clothing, jewelry and perfumes. The only thing missing right now is the café, which Bakar said he misses because he enjoyed cooking the most. He said they’d like like to incorporate the café into the new store but renovations and permits take time. He isn’t sure how soon the café will return.

“And if it doesn’t work here, then we’ll look into reopening [the café] in another location, preferably in the Northeast,” Bakar said.

Some of those renovations Bakar alluded to include improving the storefront by replacing the windows and removing the metal bars to make the store appear more inviting.

“We’re very excited to work with the CID and Chamber on these changes,” Bakar said. “We’re also excited to work with area neighborhood associations and the community because their input is very important to us.”

Bobbi Baker-Hughes, president and C.E.O. of the Northeast Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, thanked other partners for helping Bakar and his brothers reopen their store and improve the store with healthy food options and good business advice. She added that they plan to take advantage of the Chamber’s Storefront Improvement Rebate [SIR] program. The program supports local businesses through funding for repairs and improvements to building exteriors.

“The community will be excited for new windows and a storefront with no bars,” Baker-Hughes said.

Baker-Hughes said changes like removing the bars will eventually happen, but it’s all a process.

“Customers can’t just look through the windows,” Baker-Hughes said. “They have to walk into the store to realize how cool these places really are.”

Al Rahman Mediterranean Market is open seven days a week, from 9:30 a.m. – 8:30 p.m.