\n\t\t\t\t\t\tIn a Sacramento neighborhood once considered a food desert, fresh produce now fills the aisles \u2014 and with it, a renewed sense of possibility.As KCRA 3 continues its Black History Month coverage, we\u2019re highlighting two local business owners whose journey to grocery store ownership was rooted in faith, perseverance, and a commitment to give back to the community they serve.Keith and Phyllis Johnson are the owners of a new Grocery Outlet on Fulton Avenue in Sacramento\u2019s Arden-Arcade area. For them, the store represents far more than a business \u2014 it\u2019s the fulfillment of a decades-long dream that began thousands of miles away.\u201cI started in this business at 18 years old, working for a local Black chain back in Tennessee,\u201d Keith Johnson said. \u201cThey taught me the business as I grew and got more experience in it, I saw that, \u2018Hey, I can do this on my own.\u2019\u201dKeith grew up in Memphis, surrounded by family, mentors, and educators who instilled in him early on that anything was possible. But the path to ownership wasn\u2019t easy.\u201cIn this business, you feel like sometimes you get passed over when you know you have the experience and the passion,\u201d he said. \u201cYou look over and say, \u2018Wow, why did that happen?\u2019\u201dRather than letting rejection discourage him, Keith used it as motivation.Today, Keith and his wife \u2014 and high school sweetheart \u2014 Phyllis are the only African American owners of a Grocery Outlet in Sacramento. It\u2019s a distinction they carry with pride and purpose.\u201cWe\u2019ve had people come in with their kids and point to our picture on the wall and say, \u2018This is a Black-owned grocery store. This could be you,\u2019\u201d Phyllis Johnson said. \u201cThat\u2019s something we don\u2019t take lightly.\u201dPhyllis manages the business behind the scenes while Keith oversees the store floor. Together, they intentionally chose this location to bring affordable, healthy food options to a community that has long lacked access.\u201cWe wanted to bring fresh produce, natural foods here,\u201d Phyllis said. \u201cAnd we also wanted to bring economic prosperity to this neighborhood.\u201dThat commitment goes beyond food. The Johnsons hired most of their staff from the surrounding community, creating jobs and fostering a sense of ownership that extends well beyond the checkout line.\u201cWe\u2019re here to give back,\u201d Keith said. \u201cNot just to bring customers in to buy groceries \u2014 we want to be a part of this community.\u201dThe Johnsons\u2019 story is a reminder that Black history isn\u2019t just remembered \u2014 it\u2019s built. One aisle, one opportunity, and one dream at a time.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tSACRAMENTO, Calif. \u2014 \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
In a Sacramento neighborhood once considered a food desert, fresh produce now fills the aisles \u2014 and with it, a renewed sense of possibility.<\/p>\n
As KCRA 3 continues its Black History Month coverage, we\u2019re highlighting two local business owners whose journey to grocery store ownership was rooted in faith, perseverance, and a commitment to give back to the community they serve.<\/p>\n
Keith and Phyllis Johnson are the owners of a new Grocery Outlet on Fulton Avenue in Sacramento\u2019s Arden-Arcade area. <\/p>\n
For them, the store represents far more than a business \u2014 it\u2019s the fulfillment of a decades-long dream that began thousands of miles away.<\/p>\n
\u201cI started in this business at 18 years old, working for a local Black chain back in Tennessee,\u201d Keith Johnson said. \u201cThey taught me the business as I grew and got more experience in it, I saw that, \u2018Hey, I can do this on my own.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Keith grew up in Memphis, surrounded by family, mentors, and educators who instilled in him early on that anything was possible. <\/p>\n
But the path to ownership wasn\u2019t easy.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn this business, you feel like sometimes you get passed over when you know you have the experience and the passion,\u201d he said. \u201cYou look over and say, \u2018Wow, why did that happen?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Rather than letting rejection discourage him, Keith used it as motivation.<\/p>\n
Today, Keith and his wife \u2014 and high school sweetheart \u2014 Phyllis are the only African American owners of a Grocery Outlet in Sacramento. It\u2019s a distinction they carry with pride and purpose.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had people come in with their kids and point to our picture on the wall and say, \u2018This is a Black-owned grocery store. This could be you,\u2019\u201d Phyllis Johnson said. \u201cThat\u2019s something we don\u2019t take lightly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Phyllis manages the business behind the scenes while Keith oversees the store floor. <\/p>\n
Together, they intentionally chose this location to bring affordable, healthy food options to a community that has long lacked access.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted to bring fresh produce, natural foods here,\u201d Phyllis said. \u201cAnd we also wanted to bring economic prosperity to this neighborhood.\u201d<\/p>\n
That commitment goes beyond food. <\/p>\n
The Johnsons hired most of their staff from the surrounding community, creating jobs and fostering a sense of ownership that extends well beyond the checkout line.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re here to give back,\u201d Keith said. \u201cNot just to bring customers in to buy groceries \u2014 we want to be a part of this community.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Johnsons\u2019 story is a reminder that Black history isn\u2019t just remembered \u2014 it\u2019s built. One aisle, one opportunity, and one dream at a time.<\/p>\n
See more coverage of top California stories here<\/a> | Download our app<\/a> | Subscribe to our morning newsletter<\/a> | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In a Sacramento neighborhood once considered a food desert, fresh produce now fills the aisles \u2014 and with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":171142,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[6834,961,68879,387,22091,179,82011,45022,7977,57238,2623,82012,62122,82013,82010,1424,82009,121,123,67963,122,26791],"class_list":["post-171141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-arden-arcade","tag-black-history","tag-black-history-month","tag-business","tag-commitment","tag-community","tag-decades-long-dream","tag-food-desert","tag-fresh-produce","tag-grocery-outlet","tag-grocery-store","tag-johnsons","tag-keith","tag-more-experience","tag-new-grocery-outlet","tag-opportunity","tag-phyllis-johnson","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-neighborhood","tag-sacramento-news","tag-sense"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=171141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171141\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/171142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=171141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=171141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=171141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}