Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Meet The Woman Behind Compton's First Black-Owned Grocery Store

In April, 36-year-old Kia Patterson made history when she took over ownership of Grocery Outlet in Compton—making it the first black-owned grocery store in the city. The Compton native, who told an interviewer that her family works at the store with her, aims to bring quality food at low-cost price points to the community.
In a video posted to Facebook that has since gone viral, Patterson said she was able to take over the store because of her extensive experience in the industry. After years of working at Smart & Final, she was actually recruited by Grocery Outlet to help with their L.A.-area expansion. The L.A. Sentinel reports that Patterson began training with the company in June 2016, and after gathering her investments and setting up a business plan she took ownership of the store on April 1, 2017. Grocery Outlet is a San Francisco-based company with more than 250 locations in California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Nevada and Pennsylvania. According to the company's website, each store is independently owned and operated by local individuals like Patterson, who make the day to day decisions of the business.
When the Compton Grocery Outlet first opened in May 2016 (about a year before Patterson took over ownership), locals praised the addition of another store with fresh options and produce in the city, which was declared a "food desert" by the USDA in 2013.
"This store is really good for the community. The most important thing is we sell a lot of organic products at a bargain," Patterson says in the Facebook video. "[The community] is so welcoming. Everyone wants to talk to me and shake my hand. Even just say 'Hi,'" Patterson told BET.

(Photo courtesy of Kia Patterson)
“I made the decision to own a Grocery Outlet so that I could have the freedom to be able to do what I want to do and not be pigeon-holed to anything,” Patterson told the Sentinel. “Now I have the ability to set my own destiny.”
“I’m not one of those owners that dictates things. I mop the floor, I do car runs,” she continued.
The Compton Grocery Outlet store is located at 2175 W Rosecrans Avenue in Compton. The store is open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day.
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.
Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.
Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.

-
With less to prove than LA, the city is becoming a center of impressive culinary creativity.
-
Nearly 470 sections of guardrailing were stolen in the last fiscal year in L.A. and Ventura counties.
-
Monarch butterflies are on a path to extinction, but there is a way to support them — and maybe see them in your own yard — by planting milkweed.
-
With California voters facing a decision on redistricting this November, Surf City is poised to join the brewing battle over Congressional voting districts.
-
The drug dealer, the last of five defendants to plead guilty to federal charges linked to the 'Friends' actor’s death, will face a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison.
-
The weather’s been a little different lately, with humidity, isolated rain and wind gusts throughout much of Southern California. What’s causing the late-summer bout of gray?