Women\u2019s Opportunities Resource Center<\/a>, Opoku bought the East Washington Lane property in September 2025.<\/p>\nThe timing was good, but qualifying wasn\u2019t simple. Because Kozie\u2019s was still a young business, Opoku said she had to draw equity from personal property and place a year\u2019s worth of mortgage payments in escrow to move forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was my blood, sweat and tears,\u201d Opoku said. \u201cI worked for that money.\u201d<\/p>\n
Starting over in Philadelphia<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
After a divorce, she returned to Philadelphia in 2023, then brought her children from Ghana once she had begun rebuilding her life here.<\/p>\n
A nurse by profession, Opoku didn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n
Her brother, already in the water ice business, suggested she give it a try and offered to teach her.<\/p>\n
Opening Kozie\u2019s ultimately cost closer to $50,000, with the rest covered by personal loans. Opoku said she couldn\u2019t find funding available to someone without an established business income.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was no money for, \u2018I just want to start,\u2019\u201d Opoku said.<\/p>\n
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 \u201cfor rent\u201d signs. She walked in and asked the pharmacy owner what was happening with the vacant spaces next door. \u201cI own them,\u201d he told her.<\/p>\n
The location also had parking across the street and sat between two nearby Rita\u2019s Water Ice shops, leaving space for Kozie\u2019s to capture customers in between. \u201cYou have to be strategic,\u201d Opoku said.<\/p>\n
Her landlord gave her space to prepare the shop. She began working on it in fall 2023 but didn\u2019t start paying rent until March 2024, shortly before Kozie\u2019s opened that April.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy landlord was a blessing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The neighborhood welcomed her, too. Members of a nearby mosque invited her to vend at an outdoor event before Kozie\u2019s had even opened its doors.<\/p>\n
Standing out between two Rita\u2019s<\/p>\n
Kozie\u2019s operates seasonally, typically from March through November, depending on the weather.<\/p>\n
To compete with the two nearby Rita\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
Another Kozie\u2019s specialty, banana pudding ice cream, came from Opoku\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a difference when somebody uses their own money to do something,\u201d Opoku said. \u201cThey push it better.\u201d<\/p>\n
The flavor caught on, and Opoku began buying the ingredients to keep it on the menu.<\/p>\n
Owning the building protects Kozie\u2019s from displacement, but Opoku is now looking for funding to repair the aging property and expand beyond the storefront.<\/p>\n
Her biggest goal is a truck that would allow Kozie\u2019s to go mobile for festivals, private events and corporate catering. With it, she could introduce the business to customers beyond West Oak Lane.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can do those festivals outside the neighborhood,\u201d Opoku said, \u201cand it also helps market me.\u201d<\/p>\n
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