Black-owned All-In Grocers to be sold

The Black-owned All In Grocers in Waterloo announced via Facebook Monday morning it is being sold. In the Facebook announcement signed by co-founder Rodney Anderson, new owners are expected to be announced soon, and store employees will keep their jobs. The store, which held its grand opening about a year ago in October of 2023, closed temporarily on Aug. 12, 2024, and had been slated to reopen today after upgrades were made. Anderson said in June, the store had been operating 30-40% under its projections. The store’s website is no longer operational.

“At this time, we would ask the people in this community that have stood by our side and have given us an opportunity to please give the next ownership group your unwavering support,” co-founder Rodney Anderson wrote on Sept. 16, in a Facebook post to the Cedar Valley Community.

Anderson posted a message to Facebook on August 10, stating that the store was “fighting to stay in the community” and would close from August 12 to September 16 to work with a new wholesaler, lower the costs of goods, and expand its product line.

Anderson and co-owner Lance Dunn contributed $2 million of their own money to build the $10 million, 28,000-square-foot All-In Grocers development, he said. The site features a restaurant, community center, education program, reentry services and a laundromat.

Anderson has said the store opened in an area that had lacked a grocery store for 50 years, making it a “food desert,” which is an area that lacks access to fresh fruits and vegetables. In 2024, 24/7 Wall St. dubbed Waterloo-Cedar Falls the eighth worst city in the nation for African Americans.

The All-In site includes:

• Grandma’s Hands Restaurant
• The Ms. Willie Mae Wright Community Center
• The Clean Laundromat
• Satellite office of the 1619 Freedom School
• Road Home reentry services, with American Family Insurance.