Akosua Opoku had spent just over a year running her business in Northwest Philadelphia when her landlord told her he needed to sell the building.

She had built Kozie’s Water Ice & Ice Cream without investors or entrepreneurial assistance, at one point working three jobs to save toward it. Now, the location she had poured her money into was at risk.

“I had already spent so much money,” Opoku told Technical.ly. “I was afraid that if somebody else bought [the building], they could kick me out.”

“It was my blood, sweat and tears. I worked for that money.”

Akosua Opoku, Kozie’s Water Ice

Opoku remembered a Philadelphia Dept. of Commerce representative she’d met through a business program when Kozie’s was just getting started. She had held onto his card.

When her landlord broke the news in June 2025, she called the Dept. of Commerce rep and was connected with a program the city had recently introduced: the Commercial Real Estate Acquisition Loan program, or CREAL. The program helps eligible Philadelphia small business owners purchase commercial property.

Through CREAL and financing assistance from the Women’s Opportunities Resource Center, Opoku bought the East Washington Lane property in September 2025.

The timing was good, but qualifying wasn’t simple. Because Kozie’s was still a young business, Opoku said she had to draw equity from personal property and place a year’s worth of mortgage payments in escrow to move forward.

“It was my blood, sweat and tears,” Opoku said. “I worked for that money.”

Starting over in Philadelphia

Opoku was born in Ghana and moved to West Oak Lane as a child after her family came to the US. She attended elementary school in the neighborhood, then later returned to Ghana, where she lived for about 15 years.

After a divorce, she returned to Philadelphia in 2023, then brought her children from Ghana once she had begun rebuilding her life here.

A nurse by profession, Opoku didn’t want to return to the rigorous 12-hour shifts of a typical nursing job while juggling child care as a single parent. She took a home-care nursing job along with other work, saving about $20,000 toward a business of her own.

Her brother, already in the water ice business, suggested she give it a try and offered to teach her.

Opening Kozie’s ultimately cost closer to $50,000, with the rest covered by personal loans. Opoku said she couldn’t find funding available to someone without an established business income.

“There was no money for, ‘I just want to start,’” Opoku said.

Before her children joined her, Opoku drove around West Oak Lane looking for a location. Her plan was to find the shop first, then choose a school nearby for them. She noticed several empty storefronts near a pharmacy, with no “for rent” signs. She walked in and asked the pharmacy owner what was happening with the vacant spaces next door. “I own them,” he told her.

The location also had parking across the street and sat between two nearby Rita’s Water Ice shops, leaving space for Kozie’s to capture customers in between. “You have to be strategic,” Opoku said.

Her landlord gave her space to prepare the shop. She began working on it in fall 2023 but didn’t start paying rent until March 2024, shortly before Kozie’s opened that April.

“My landlord was a blessing,” she said.

The neighborhood welcomed her, too. Members of a nearby mosque invited her to vend at an outdoor event before Kozie’s had even opened its doors.

Standing out between two Rita’s

Kozie’s operates seasonally, typically from March through November, depending on the weather.

To compete with the two nearby Rita’s locations, Opoku built a menu that goes beyond water ice and ice cream, with house-made funnel cakes, fried Oreos, pizza pretzels and hot dogs.

Another Kozie’s specialty, banana pudding ice cream, came from Opoku’s 21-year-old daughter, a college student who helps manage the shop. Skeptical of the idea, Opoku told her daughter to use her own tip money to test it.

“There’s a difference when somebody uses their own money to do something,” Opoku said. “They push it better.”

The flavor caught on, and Opoku began buying the ingredients to keep it on the menu.

Owning the building protects Kozie’s from displacement, but Opoku is now looking for funding to repair the aging property and expand beyond the storefront.

Her biggest goal is a truck that would allow Kozie’s to go mobile for festivals, private events and corporate catering. With it, she could introduce the business to customers beyond West Oak Lane.

“I can do those festivals outside the neighborhood,” Opoku said, “and it also helps market me.”