Most customers of Victory Market in Detroit have owner Avin Yelda's cellphone number

When Avin Yelda asked for a bicycle on his 10th birthday, his father John bought him a lawn mower instead. And he told Avin to earn the money to buy his own bike.

Within 30 days, the bike, a black Mongoose BMX, was his.  

Yelda would ride the bike up and down the blocks near his childhood home in Southfield, across the street from Inglenook Park on West 12 Mile. Fast forward 30 years and he would have another extended relationship with a lawn mower. This time, as part of a two-man effort, Yelda would cut about 200 front lawns connected to abandoned homes in Detroit’s Warrendale neighborhood on the city’s far west side, where Yelda’s business, Victory Market, 16200 West Warren Ave., is located.  

Through both instances, the 43-year-old Yelda says cutting a whole heap of grass provided life lessons that still guide to this day.  

“My dad is my hero and he gave me my work ethic. But to be able to apply what he taught me toward helping others absolutely was more fulfilling,” said Yelda, who teamed up with a beloved gentleman who lived just blocks from Victory Market, the late Anthony McCaskill, to cut the yards in front of the abandoned homes across Warrendale. “The city does a way better job with abandoned properties now, but then (around 2010-11) it felt good to be able to help like that. There is nothing more important than giving back to the community — you have to give back. When the community is happy, everyone is happy; we grow together.” 

In recent years, Yelda has done considerably more than just cut grass. And he, along with his brothers (Delone, Devone, Chris and Eldon) have most definitely “grown” as businessmen, demonstrated by the two supermarkets they own in Grand Rapids, which employ more than 100 people combined. But Avin Yelda also wants it known that he still has plenty of skin in the game when it comes to the city of Detroit. And by approaching being an independent store owner in the manner that he learned from his father, Yelda says he builds on a solid relationship with his Detroit community each time he opens the doors at Victory Market, where customers can purchase liquor, wine and other beverages; freshly prepared hot meals from the Victory Soul Food carryout restaurant; Michigan State Lottery tickets; and more, including check cashing and free bill-pay services.   

“It’s honorable,” proclaimed Yelda, when asked what being an independent store owner in Detroit means to him. “But just because you’re qualified doesn’t mean you’re certified. And, it’s a two-way street. It’s not just you as a store owner feeling comfortable with the customers; the customers and the people in the neighborhood need to feel comfortable with you. It really is a relationship that you have to build over time.”

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In a word, Yelda’s communications style can be described as “respectful,” particularly when he is just meeting someone. It is his way to politely respond to questions with “yes, sir” or “yes, ma’am,” unless the person he is speaking to invites him to use their first name. And then Yelda injects that person’s first name warmly and often, which establishes an immediate bond. But just as Yelda is mindful and precise in the way he speaks, he is equally careful about not overselling his good deeds as a store owner. 

“I’m here to make a profit, but I’m also here to do my part,” explained Yelda, who began working at Victory Market for his father at age 13, where he was responsible for bottle deposit returns and keeping the coolers stocked with cold beverages. “If you own a home in the city of Detroit, you must make your home inviting to your neighbors. It’s the same thing with owning a business in the city of Detroit. A clean store makes a clean house for the neighborhood. You don’t invest in a business in the city and leave it. That’s why we keep our outside grounds clean, keep the glass clean inside, constantly wipe down our surfaces as we have been doing throughout COVID and power wash our building three times a year.

"Everything connected to me becoming a man was tied to Victory, so I feel proud to keep our store clean while providing for my family and employees (20). But it’s nothing more than doing my part and I wouldn’t want the community to think otherwise.” 

Yelda says his approach boils down to being “professional,” but on Thursday afternoon at Victory Market, he also revealed that there is a uniquely personal aspect to his method as well. For example, his phone — loaded with customer contacts — may have been warmer than the 85-degree temperature outside because of the constant stream of calls that were coming in.  

“Most of my customers have my cell number,” said Yelda, who joked about once taking a call while vacationing in Florida from a customer who wanted to make sure her daily lottery numbers had been played. “I see them in the store all the time — some are friends of my father — but they call me, too. We’re just family.” 

“Family” is a word that Yelda uses to describe his employees as well. However, he explained that there have been times when he has counseled these family members to leave Victory Market behind, from an employment standpoint, even when he knew it would be extremely difficult to replace the employee. Yelda said such was the case with a mother and daughter, who are dear to him. The mom, he happily says, now has a career in health care, while the daughter is attending Howard University. If Yelda one day receives an invitation to a graduation program at Howard, it won’t be the first time that one of his Victory Market family members has invited him to a life-changing ceremony. And in the case of Donovan Moss, Yelda was in the ceremony, as the best man in Moss’ 2011 wedding. 

“I started off filling up the coolers and I went on to do everything except check cashing, and I never felt like an employee; it was always more like family,” said Moss, 33, whose first job was at Victory Market when he was a 14-year-old ninth grader at Mackenzie High School. “They helped me get my first car, my first cellphone; they always supported me and always had my back.” 

Moss said that support included ongoing interventions from “big brother” Avin about leaving his job at Victory Market.

“Avin was pushing me to be a policeman, for a while, because he wanted me to be able to retire and have benefits,” Moss said. “I told him that wasn’t for me, but when I looked into trucking, they supported me and I went to truck driving school.” 

Moss is now an independent trucking contractor and he says Victory Market’s fingerprints are all over what he is doing today.

“Going back to when I was a teenager, I had the opportunity to work for them (Victory Market) and I capitalized on it,” said Moss, who purchased the first truck for his new career in 2014 with help from Yelda’s family. “I don’t know where my life would be without them because I didn’t come from a family that was privileged and fortunate. I could have been a young, knucklehead teenager getting into all kinds of mischief, but they took me in and took me under their wing. For the city of Detroit, I think it’s very important to have businesses like this that can take young people, or even older persons, and provide a family-like setting and treat you right.”      

When Moss hits the highways in his truck, he is still well represented at Victory Market by his brother Jeff, who is the top chef for the Victory Soul Food restaurant. On Thursday afternoon, Yelda wore a prideful look as a steady flow of customers walked away with packed carryout boxes with Jeff’s food, including some of Donovan Moss’ top recommendations like sweet chili wings, catfish, macaroni and cheese, and greens from a menu with more than 25 items. Yelda is ordinarily reluctant to reveal store secrets, but with a smile he admitted that the restaurant is his pride and joy. The smile remained when he shared a little history about Chaldean independent store owners in Detroit. Connected to that history have been services like today’s DTE payment kiosk, which Yelda helped to bring to independent stores like his. And there also is no denying the drawing power of the Michigan State Lottery machine, a 50-year institution. 

“Let me tell you something, the lottery machine is the second best place for a conversation after the barbershop," he said. "There have been many times when listening to the conversations in the lottery line have been the best part of the day — they keep us going,” Yelda said. “But no matter what a person comes in for, we hope they can find something or some energy that is going to make their day. There’s a lot of separation in the world today. But at our store, we have a melting pot. We have Arabic people; African Americans; Africans from different countries; Spanish; Polish, and during the past five months we have had a group of Afghan refugees that took a liking to me. They may look like they fit into this community, but they speak a different language and are unable to speak to anyone. I use Google translator to communicate with them and I’ve been able to help some of them do things like load the Uber app on their phone, look into welfare benefits, or just give some a ride back to their hotel.

"The city of Detroit has been good to me and my family, and if I can help people — any people — during the time I spend at the store, I will.”  

Scott Talley is a native Detroiter, a proud product of Detroit Public Schools and lifelong lover of Detroit culture in all of its diverse forms. In his second tour with the Free Press, which he grew up reading as a child, he is excited and humbled to cover the city’s neighborhoods and the many interesting people who define its various communities. Contact him at: stalley@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @STalleyfreep. Read more of Scott's stories at www.freep.com/mosaic/detroit-is/.