Carl Johnson
Carl Johnson
Storehouse Grocers
East St. Paul, MN
Carl Johnson opened Storehouse Grocers in 2019 in the Dayton’s Bluff neighborhood of Saint Paul. Carl and his wife began to brainstorm ways to address food insecurity in their community in 2017. Today, they provide a variety of 300 basic need grocery items along with sustainable cafe drinks to supply affordable essentials to one of Minnesota’s most impoverished neighborhoods. Nothing costs more than $8 (originally $5). The grocery store and cafe also funds a hot meals delivery program and hosts a training program for people 18-20 to learn job skills in the food industry and offers job connections with local restaurants and partners. Storehouse Grocers plans to expand to a second location in 2025.
About Carl: Carl is lead pastor of St. Paul’s Faith City Church and executive director of the G.W. Carver Cultural Center for Innovation, which houses two businesses: Storehouse Groceriesand Coffee and the Social Kitchen Fellowship, which focuses on faith, food, and culture. After growing up in a family of cooks and restaurant owners, Carl’s own journey included a radical transformation from a black Muslim to a Christian after overcoming addiction in Orlando, Florida.
Storehouse Grocers is in a zip code that’s ranked 725th out of 873 in Minnesota based on median income. Over 66,000 families struggle with food insecurity in the city of St. Paul, “We arenot only ending food insecurity but also creating wealth in the food industry with overlooked individuals including black and brown communities including women,” say Johnson.
Food is purchased in bulk through a partnership with HyVee Grocers, an employee owned grocery chain in the Midwest, and sold at affordable prices in the store; along with premium coffee sourced from Africa.
