Tropicana Markt: the story of hamburg’s most attractive Afro shop
August 4, 2022
By
Despite rapid gentrification, Hamburg’s Barmbek district remains one of the city’s most culturally and economically diverse. At its center is Fuhlbüttlerstraße, a 4.7-kilometer road that extends from just before the Barmbek train station in a north-northwest direction to Ohlsdorf. Flanked on either side of this largely two-lane road is a smorgasbord of shops, ranging from peddlers of flowers and prescription drugs to restaurants, cafes, and exotic supermarkets. It is on this road that one finds Timngum each working day inside Tropicana Markt, an Afro supermarket.
When he moved to Hamburg from Heidelberg five years ago, Timngum encountered a large African population in Hamburg, but he also found many afro shops, some of which had been in business for decades or owned by individuals with deep roots in the African community, which accounts for about 80% of sales at afro shops. That made the choice of location very critical. “I wanted to have an area where I could have my people, my customers,” Timngum remarked.
So he came to Barmbek, where although there is competition, the location of his store gives him access to not only customers in Barmbek but also in neighboring Wandsbek. However, the road to Fuhlsbüttler Straße 324, where Tropicana Markt is currently, was long and arduous. Before this location, Timngum had been evicted from two others in less than two years. The first location on Drosselstraße, just a few meters from the Barmbek train station, changed ownership less than six months into his tenancy. Shortly after he had left, the building was demolished for redevelopment purposes in keeping with the rapid gentrification of central Barmbek.
Then came the second location less than 200 meters from the train station at Fuhlsbüttlerstraße 115. Like the first, this one also changed ownership shortly into Timngum’s tenancy. Following the acquisition, a representative of the new property owner visited him. “One lady came and said, `this thing was standing here, this one was standing there,`” Timngum recalled. “And I said this is my shop. And I asked her, what is your problem? And then she came up with this idea that they want to have a different business; they don’t want food there.” He felt the new owners were intolerant of what his business represented, and that feeling only grew stronger when they replaced him with Fresh Green Hamburg, a company that states on its google page, “Fresh Green stands for healthy, fresh, and delicious dishes such as Hawaiian bowls, salads, kumpir, wraps, and much more.”
Previous site of Tropicana Markt now occupied by Fresh Green. Photo taken on July 31, 2022
The experience was draining financially and emotionally, but it taught Timngum the importance of securing a long-term lease before setting up shop. And so, with lawyers by his side and a five-year lease with a 12-month termination clause on the table, he signed off on a contract that brought Tropicana Markt to its present location at Fuhlsbüttler Straße 324.
That was in January 2021. Since then, Tropicana Markt has found a home and a solid customer base. For many customers, including myself, it is their most preferred destination for African food items and hair accessories. Here one could find Ghanaian yam, Colombian plantain, Cameroonian sweet potato, and Guinean palm oil. However, only 5% of the items inside Tropicana Markt are locally produced, and getting the remaining 95% from abroad to the shop often takes some maneuvering. That is because EU regulations prevent importing certain food items from Africa. Take plantain, for example; although it is found in every Afro shop, Africa is not an approved source of plantains under EU regulations. Shopkeepers must get them from approved countries like Colombia and Ecuador.
African food products at Tropicana Markt at Fuhlsbüttler Straße 324, Barmbek, Hamburg
The other challenge local Afro shop owners face is shipment. While it is theoretically possible to ship many items directly from Africa to Hamburg, the process of clearing products like shito and palm oil is often slow and laborious. Bureaucracy plays a role, which is unsurprising considering it is Germany, but the main reason is that Hamburg port officials are often suspicious of African food products. “They ask you, `What is this? What is this?`” Timnugum said, “and so it would be difficult.” Instead, many Afro shop owners prefer to clear their shipments in countries like Belgium or buy from major retailers there, such as King Solomon Trading.
For Timngum, the size of Tropicana Markt makes the challenge of traveling to Belgium to restock more manageable. For one, he could buy in bulk, which reduces the number of trips he has to make and, thus, his transportation costs. Buying in bulk also lowers the cost per unit, which allows him to sell more cheaply to consumers at a profit.
Inside Tropica Markt at Fuhlsbüttler Straße 324, Barmbek, Hamburg
However, price considerations alone were not Timngum’s motivation for having a sizeable supermarket. “We have been sending a very wrong message out there for people to think that an Afro shop should be in a corner; a small corner like that, and that’s an Afro shop!” he lamented. “That’s why I thought that something like this would draw a wide line between us and other shops.” That and maintaining a clean store at all times are top priorities for Timngum, who is very particular about steering clear of negative stereotypes and low expectations.
But size and hygiene alone are not what separate Tropicana Markt from other Afro shops in Hamburg. Many African food shoppers in Hamburg also prefer Tropicana Markt because of its customer service. No, it does not have regular free tastings or your favorite music playing in the background each time you walk in. However, if you are accustomed to being carefully watched whenever you walk into an establishment like an Afro shop or feeling your money isn`’t worth much to a snobbish shopkeeper who would rather attend to his phone than to you, then you can’t help but notice just how relaxed and unsuspecting the atmosphere is inside Tropicana Markt. I wanted to know why the treatment at his location was markedly different, and it turned out the reason was as personal as it was economic.
“I had a nasty experience,” Timngum said, recalling an episode in Heidelberg. “We went shopping, and my wife took a palm oil and was looking at it. There was something very regular about the palm oil.” He continued, “Then she asked the shop owner, `why this palm oil?` The man told her, `put the thing down and leave my shop. Raus! Raus!`” Timngum was disappointed not only by the mistreatment but also at the sight of so many Afro shops he had seen owned or managed by individuals who were neither experts nor consumers of African food. “I saw the African market being ambushed by people who did not really know the products,” he lamented, “and I could see my African community asking them questions which they were never going to get answers for.”
When Timngum opened Tropicana Markt, he saw customer service as his biggest strength. His unsatisfactory experiences at other Afro shops had made him sympathetic to customer needs. As he saw, customers need someone knowledgeable about the products they want to buy and willing to answer questions about them politely. His decade-long experience as a teller at a US Military commissary in Heidelberg had taught him the business of buying and selling all types of food products. Still, he credits his Cameroonian heritage for his knowledge of African foods. He felt more equipped than most shopkeepers to satisfactorily answer customer questions regarding product appearance, uses, and preservation.
But if his personal experiences made prioritizing customer service important, market competition made it necessary. As a new entrant into the Afro shop business, Timngum is competing in a multi-million euro local industry against other shop owners with greater brand awareness and deeper ties in the African community. Additionally, many items at Tropicana Markt are readily found at other Afro shops. Therefore, outstanding customer service is necessary to differentiate Tropicana Markt from the competition and gain a competitive edge. “The customer is not your friend, and he is more than just a visitor to your shop,” Timnugum remarked toward the end of our interview. “He is the source of your stay. And so, at the Tropicana Markt, myself and my family we try the most to give them the best. And that’s what separates us from all other Afro shops.”
With his shop in the background, Timngum posed for a picture just a few feet from the entrance to Tropicana Markt. Just ten feet to his right were two of his three children, the oldest and the youngest, manning the cash register. Their facial expressions revealed they were unaware of what their dad was doing. “Why are you taking a picture?” said the oldest as her father stood upright with a smile for our camera. “I will tell you later,” he replied.
This TOP Blog article is part of a series that highlights the economic diversities and contributions of people with migration backgrounds to the Hamburg economy. It is part of our Wok Diversity Mentoring Program 2022, sponsored by the Deutsche Postcode Lotterie.