Carla’s Fresh Market is a Black woman-owned and operated grocery store aiming to redefine the neighborhood grocery store by providing access to higher quality food makers and growers in historically underserved neighborhoods.
The innovative and one-of-a-kind grocery store features fresh produce and thoughtfully made food crafted by celebrated and emerging food makers of color. It recently opened in the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles last November.
Carla’s Fresh Market combines the convenience of a big-box grocery store with the thoughtfulness of a well-curated boutique. “I want to change the grocery shopping experience…. I want it to be a place of discovery. I want to have fresh local produce and a vibrant setting,” says founder Ariell Ilunga.
The 3,000-square-foot storefront is described as “vibrant as the food selection with colorful walls, woven light fixtures, and plenty of comfortable seating to rest and restore.”
“The space is intentionally beautiful. That was one of the big things that I wanted to change in the grocery store experience, period, IIunga tells ESSENCE, “I want folks to delight in coming through the doors and have a sense of wonder and discovery, but also just that sense of pleasure in the task of it.”
In addition to an elevated and welcoming atmosphere, customers at Carla’s Fresh Market can find Black-owned grocery brands like Ghost Town Oats, Trade Street Jam, Mumgry, and Jah Mama Sauce among the close to 700 products on store shelves. This one-stop shop also includes a Black woman sommelier-driven bottle shop from LaShea Delaney featuring small, minority-owned winemakers.
Ilunga, a former fashion publicist, says that after leaving that industry in 2016 and returning home to LA, food got her “fired up again” and led her to farmer’s markets.
She started by volunteering at farmers’ markets before going on to run one of one of the largest in the country. “I just started working at markets from the ground up. I did everything from taking out the trash and setting up tents to finally running one of the largest farmers’ markets in the country, called the Hollywood Farmers Market. That whole experience changed my life,” Ilunga tells ESSENCE.
“I have an appreciation for really good food but didn’t know much about how we get it and who does it and any of it. And so, for five years, I spent a lot of time with farmers, I spent a lot of time on farms, and I’ve hugged so many baby goats, which is very therapeutic; I highly recommend it. It just changed my life,” she adds.
The inspiration to open a neighborhood market came from that work. As a wife and mother of two children, Ilunga saw a need for more families to have access to farmers’ market-quality produce that wasn’t limited to weekly events and was easy to get to.
“We’re feeding families. We need value, we need accessibility, we need ease,” says Ilunga.
Carla’s Fresh Market is named after Ilunga’s close college friend, Carla Anderson, who died of cancer in 2020. “She was always like my champion, always just saw me before I saw myself. She always said you’re going to do great in this life; you have everything it takes,” Llunga said of their friendship. “I just wanted that energy woven into the space like this.”
Plans for the market this year include cooking classes, wine tastings, and an outdoor seating area for the community to sit down and enjoy.
This passionate entrepreneur drives home the point that the goal for Carla’s Fresh Market goes beyond having the right products or colors; it’s about community.
“I think that starts with us. We are here to help people set the table with warmth, and then people will open up to you and ask you a question,” says Ilunga.
“We’re going to say, hey, we’re going to remember the baby’s name and tell you your dog’s cute because it is. We are creating a special environment for the community to build and grow,” she adds.