Laura Zastrow
Mariama Diallo created her store around her customers’ needs.
When you walk into the African & American Store, you’ll be greeted by the gentle smell of incense. Beautiful African fabrics in bright oranges, greens and purples hang on the wall. Formal clothing from Africa and Dubai fills part of the shop: jeweled dresses and outfits made of traditional African prints. Djembe drums line the front window. There’s a wall with jewelry made in Africa — natural-looking earrings made with shells and wood — and lots of cosmetics, including scented oils and hunks of raw black soap, a natural oil-based soap made in Africa.
Owner Mariama Diallo has run the shop since 2005. She’s there every day, seven days a week. “I never take off,” she says with a smile. Diallo, originally from Guinea, started her shop as a traditional corner store, with snack foods and soda, but after a few months, it was clear that it wasn’t the right fit for the neighborhood.
Before moving to Madison, Diallo had a store specializing in African imports in New York, so she decided to go back to what she knew. She stocked the shelves with African food and products, and the African & American Store was born.
Ten years later, her shop is a busy east-side hub for people shopping for things like hibiscus leaf preserves and cassava flour. In fact, the majority of the store’s space is devoted to food, much of which is imported from West Africa.
Laura Zastrow
Diallo stocks such special foodstuffs as (from top) palm oil; bitter balls and African fish; and attiéké.
“Food is the big seller,” Diallo says. And her selection of African foods — mostly shelf-stable or frozen — is impressive. One of the most popular items is the West African staple attiéké — a couscous made from fermented cassava. For Diallo, its sour flavor is a taste of her homeland, and it’s something she cooks often for her own family.
Another popular item is palm oil. Diallo sells five to six gallons a day of the deep reddish orange oil, popular in African cooking. Shea butter is another top seller, and though many people may think of it as a cosmetic, Diallo explains, “In Africa, we cook with it.”
“We have everything,” Diallo says as we peek in big freezers stocked with frozen goat meat, African fishes and bitter balls, a small, bitter African eggplant. And if she doesn’t have it in stock, Diallo assures me she can order it.
Diallo says that the “and” in the name of her store is very intentional. It serves as an invitation to all people, not just those of African descent, to visit. “All American people are invited; all African people are invited.”
“Come in and see,” she offers. “Check us out.”
African & American Store 2750 E. Johnson St., 608-241-2780, 9 am-9 pm Mon.-Sat., 10 am-7 pm Sun.