centerfold

Julia Williams

Editor-in-Chief

Muhubo Jama has owned and operated her business “Jama Imports” for over 20 years. Formerly located along Lexington Avenue within the Pendleton Heights neighborhood, Jama Imports has sat on the corner at 621 Prospect Ave., within the Independence Plaza neighborhood, for the past several years. 

Originally from the nation of Somalia located in South Africa, Jama said she left the area when she was just three years old and has called Northeast Kansas City home for over 34 years as both a resident and a business owner.

Jama shared in an interview, Friday that she has lived in the Northeast “more than any other area. I like it; I’ve never seen any problem,” she said. 

While she has lived in the Northeast for over three decades, she said opening up her own business was not her first career move. First, she started work as a housekeeper at the Downtown Kansas City Marriott Hotel and bought and worked for a candle company, before deciding to open up Jama Imports. 

Receiving assistance from her brother, sister and husband, Jama decided to launch her own business in 2003. 

“I love it; You enjoy the life, no one bothers you when you own your own business,” Jama shared in an interview, Friday. “You’re not worried about time or [taking] a 30 to 40-minute break.” 

This flexibility and independence, Jama shared, is one of her favorite aspects of self-employment. 

“If I want to visit someone, I can just close the door,” she said. 

And this drive for entrepreneurship, she shared, runs deep as both her mother and father owned family businesses, which she said she worked at and helped with as a young girl. 

While Jama said she works mainly solo at Jama Imports and the store does not have any additional employees, her brother and her husband also help her run the business — carrying on this familial mom and pop shop legacy. 

Jama Imports is an everything store of sorts with items ranging from women’s clothing and perfume selections to home decor including rugs, carpets and curtains, among other items. 

Just as it sounds in the title, items offered for sale in Jama’s store are imported from countries all around the world including Turkey, Spain, Japan, Saudi Arabia and Italy, among others, according to ImportYeti — an online platform, which helps to pair and identify business owners with suppliers that best cater to their specific needs. 

Jama Imports is open from 10:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., Monday through Sunday, seven days a week.