MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Alcenia’s Soul Food in the Pinch District looks like it will be around for a long time.
B.J. Tamayo has plenty to shout about. The owner of Alcenia’s Restaurant just bought the building she has rented for 23 years.
“Nothing but God,” Tamayo said. “I tell people you can mess with me, but don’t mess with my Jesus.”
Thursday, she signed the closing papers.
For months she feared she would lose her business when the landlord decided to sell the building. She had no place to go and no money to buy.
But Tamayo said she had a village: people who have come to love her soul food highlighted on cooking shows and popular with tourists.
“It’s about God putting the right people in your life to make it,” Tamayo said.
That village included the Memphis Medical District Collaborative, a group that helps downtown businesses thrive.
“We have some incentives at the MMDC to support the growth and sustainability of small businesses,” said Vonesha Mitchell with MMDC.
They got to work helping Tamayo with everything from creating a management system to accessing capital. After about two years, they were ready when the owner put the building on the market again.
Tamayo’s realtor helped negotiate.
“Now it’s her turn. Her turn,” said realtor Sam Notowich. “She gets to have a piece of the pie.”
Tamayo bought the building for $200,000 and become one of only a few African American business owners downtown who actually own their building.
She also got the building next door to her, which is already rented, making her a landlord.
“This ain’t even about me. This not about me. It’s about bringing people together from all over the world,” Tamayo said.
“I have seen what she had gone through these 23 years, through the hard work, through the joy and tears of sometimes her being in by herself, taking money and cooking,” Notowich said.
Nine months ago, Tamayo didn’t even know if Alcenia’s would survive. Her business had been blocked of by construction at the Convention Center. Then the pandemic hit and closed her down.
She started online sales and kept pushing. It paid off. Now she plans to renovate, manufacture products, and help others.
“Baby, it’s just beginning. This is just the beginning,” Tamayo said.
Tamayo says she will be closed once she starts renovations, but customers can still visit her online at alcenias.com to get some of her products.