HEALTHY CORNER STORE INITIATIVE
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Happy Grocery is one of the neighborhood markets participating in Wichita’s Healthy Corner Store Initiative, a city-funded program administered by Wichita State University that helps expand access to fresh produce and healthy food options in underserved neighborhoods. For Maria and Forrest Shirley, the initiative supports a mission they’ve already embraced: combining farm-fresh produce with everyday grocery staples and specialty African foods to serve northeast Wichita.
For Maria Shirley, farming and owning a neighborhood grocery store go hand in hand.
The co-owner of Happy Grocery, which she operates with her husband, Forrest Shirley, says her dream has always been simple: grow food and put it on people’s tables.
“I love feeding people food,” Shirley said. “I love growing it fresh and putting it on people’s table.”
Located at 2325 E. 17th St. N., Happy Grocery offers fresh fruits and vegetables, eggs, bread, milk, frozen meats and pantry staples. Customers can also find specialty products familiar to Wichita’s growing African immigrant community, including cassava flour, plantains, spices and other hard-to-find ingredients.
Many of the vegetables sold at the store come directly from a farm operated by Maria and Forrest Shirley, where they grow greens, beans, corn and other produce.
“We both love farming,” Shirley said. “That’s why I decided to have this store, so I can always grow food and bring it.”
Shirley hopes participation in Wichita’s Healthy Corner Store Initiative will help expand the store’s produce offerings. She is particularly excited about receiving a refrigerated produce display that will allow fruits and vegetables to be showcased more prominently.
Looking ahead, she hopes to open a restaurant next door where customers can experience African cuisine and learn how many of the store’s specialty ingredients are used.
For Shirley, the mission remains the same whether she’s farming, stocking shelves or serving customers: bringing fresh food and healthy options to the community she now calls home.
