Mr. Modi, who is from he Gambia, is a co-owner of the African and International Market, which opened for business in August of 2005. His wife, who is from Senegal, is the other co-owner. Husband-and-wife entrepreneurial team Modi from The Gambia and Mary from Senegal started the African and International Market in August of 2005. “It was my wife¹s idea,” states Modi. “We run the store together.”
Mary has a business background of having worked in an African store but Modi had never previously worked in a store. “I¹m a technician in the audio/video/networking area,” Modi comments. “We never had a business of our own before. When we got into it, it was something we tried and we took a big risk. We were willing to put everything into it.” That risk has paid off, Modi continues. “We are doing good,” he states firmly.
Red oil, gar (made of cassava leaves), Liberian products like palm butter and kettley are just a few of the specifically African products to be found in the African and International Market. It also carries many European products such as the Ovaltine chocolate drink. “A lot of people like the store because we have something different here,” Modi relates. “It¹s much bigger than most African stores and has more space. We have 2,500 square feet here.”
A wide variety of customers patronize the African and International Market, Modi asserts. “We¹ve got Liberians, Togolese, Congolese, we¹ve got Jamaicans, we¹ve got Nigerians, Ghanians, Gambians,” the store co-owner says. “This area is multi-cultural and we get people from different countries.”
Modi left The Gambia to go to college in Great Britain. “I was into computing,” Modi remembers. “That¹s when I started learning about computer programming. I didn¹t finish college. I had a lot of other things going on. I couldn¹t do it financially because it was getting expensive.”
Racial prejudice was an unfortunate fact of life in Great Britain, Modi states. “Blacks are more welcome in America than in Britain,” he feels. “In Britain, if a black person has a degree and is looking for a job, they will choose a white person over you even if the white person doesn¹t have as good of a degree. There are more chances for blacks in America than in England.”
However, there were aspects of British life that Modi enjoyed and one of the major ones was the more relaxed pace of life in the country. “Britain is slower and you don¹t have to worry about too much,” he observes. “Over here in America there are a lot of things that you have to do. The life is much faster in America. You don¹t have to work two or three jobs to survive in Britain. Most of the time, you get one job and you don¹t have to get another one.” Some of Great Britain¹s government services make life easier for the ordinary person in that nation, Modi feels. “In Britain, you don¹t have to worry about getting medical and dental care,” he remarks. He also thinks the fact that people in Great Britain can easily get around without driving a car is a distinct advantage. “You don¹t have to have a car because there is transportation all over the place,” he maintains. “The way gas is going right now, it¹s killing everybody over here.”
From Merry Old England, Modi came to the United States because he had brothers and sisters living in America. He first lived in New Jersey. “I didn¹t like it,” he says of his time there. “I was living in south New Jersey, close to Camden which is more of a white area. I just wasn¹t feeling too connected.” He remembers that he had lived around many other Africans in Britain and says that he “was more used to living in a place where there are a lot of your own people.”
He traveled to metro Atlanta to visit an uncle who was living in this area and found himself very comfortable in this metropolis. “I liked Atlanta,” Modi recalls. “It was more African people, a lot of blacks living here.” He continues that this metropolitan area has a bright future. “Atlanta is one of the fastest growing cities in America,” the immigrant entrepreneur states. He thinks the area has a strong advantage over the state from which he came in at least one key area. ”Housing is cheaper here than in New Jersey,” he notes.
There is one thing he would very much like to change about metro Atlanta. “There¹s getting to be a lot of crime here,” he sadly observes. “The crime rate is too high. I wish it would stop because everyone should be trying to contribute in building and not destroying.”
What does Modi feel is most special about the land of his birth? “The Gambia has a lot of nice beaches,” he answers with unabashed pride. “All of the hotels are by the sea because The Gambia has a lot of water around it.”
As tends to be true of people who run stores, Modi is profoundly a people person and has an outgoing, extroverted personality. “I like interacting with people because I¹ve always been interacting with people,” he says.
Running the African and International Market has also opened a very welcome educational opportunity up for Modi. “I¹m taking advantage of the opportunity to learn French because a lot of the people who come in here speak French,” he reveals. “My wife¹s native language is French because in Senegal they speak French.”
Aspects of running a business are inevitably challenging, the entrepreneur elaborates. “It¹s very, very hard work,” he says. “You have to be very charming, you have to be willing to take anything that comes your way. It¹s very difficult. You have to be very strong to stay in your own business. You have to have the right people with the right attitude.”
His advice to someone who wants to open his or her store is to do a lot of homework and then adopt an attitude of optimistic persistence and a determination to see goals through to positive ends. “You just have to basically look for a good area and a good area might cost you,” he comments. “That¹s number one, a good area. Then research the demographics. Look at what type of customers you have and find out what they need and just build it from there.” An entrepreneur will inevitably run into obstacles, Modi elaborates, and to be a success, he or she must be prepared to face such obstacles head on. “You just have to stay strong and just put everything you¹ve got into your business,” he advises. “Even down the road, you will still come across a lot of bumpy rides.” Encountering “bumpy rides” is typical of anyone in any occupation, Modi indicates, while the test of a successful person is how he or she weathers them. “Life is not easy,” he states. “You just have to do what you want to do.”
However, the proud co-owner of the African and International Market also sees running one¹s own business as vastly and clearly superior to the usual alternative. “Working for yourself is better than working for someone else because you can always do things your own way,” he firmly believes.
Modi and Mary have three children. What do these busy and industrious people like to do when they are not working? “I love video games,” Modi answers. “I¹m a technical person and I¹m in that kind of field so I like to play online video games. My wife likes to watch movies. Mary is multi-talented and has many interests. She is on a constant quest to better herself and acquire new marketable skills. ”Mary also goes to school to further her studies in the areas of manicure and pedicure,” Modi says. “She may open a nail salon someday.”
Ours is a world that is increasingly oriented toward mathematics and advanced technical subjects. Nevertheless, many people have poor skills in these areas and even have fears of them as in the dreaded “math anxiety” and a stubborn distaste for mathematics and technology. As a technical sort of person, what does Modi say to those who are adverse to or extremely challenged in these all-important areas? “You just have to seek knowledge,” he answers. “When I started learning about technical subjects, I learned things that were new to me and I was pushing myself to learn. I put effort into it to learn. You have to push yourself to learn and you have to love what you do.”
Modi says he may eventually return to college to earn a degree. “I still want to get more schooling if I can get the time for it,” the store co-owner explains. “I want to study electronic arts like video gaming.”A philosophy that emphasizes perseverance and education guides Modi. “Life is not fair but you just have to get by with what you know and do what you¹re capable of doing,” he asserts. “You have to seek knowledge. It doesn¹t matter how far you have to go, the more you seek knowledge, the better it is for you.”
The African and International Market is located at 5064 Memorial Dr. in Stone Mountain. It is open seven days a week.
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