Small Business Story: Market On Main

5 min readMar 22, 2021

Having Market on Main in downtown Racine is game changer and it is what the community needed the most because Racine is known as a “food desert”. According to Tywon Davidson, this means that there are not many convenience stores around the city.

“There’s nowhere in this area, probably two to three-mile square radius for people to get the staple items like your bread, milk, and things of that nature,” said Davidson.

The co-founder of the Market on Main, Davidson, recognized a need and capitalized on the opportunity to open Market on Main. Market on Main provides everyday items such as groceries, snack foods, soft drinks, fresh deli sandwiches, cleaning supplies, and much more. The store is located on Main Street Racine.

“I was walking my dog and I saw the place that I have currently now up for rent, so I called the owner of the building…. The owner of the building was very excited about the business I want to open so like he kind of pushing me because there was another interested group that wanted to get the place,” Davidson said. “The owner called me and said, hey I have another group that wants to get the place, but I would like you to have it because I liked your idea better.”

During the interview, Tywon Davidson discussed about his educational background and any previous work experiences before he stared his own business. “I have a high school education and graduated from Washington Park High. I have also two associate degrees. I attended community college and earned my first associate degree from Waldorf University in Forest City, Iowa,” said Davidson.

After graduating from college, Davidson went to work as anyone expected to do, but he quickly realized that one associate degree was not good enough to be financially stable. Davidson worked at Apple Care for a few years before he transitioned to another job.

Davidson said, “I decided the things I was doing I want more, so I had the opportunity to go back to school and got IT degree…. and proceeded to look for a job an IT field. That is good couple of years, but I ended up getting a job Apple Care.”

While working at Harley-Davidson as an IT consultant, Davidson got laid off from his job due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Davidson said, “I ended up getting a job at Harley Davidson like six or seven years ago through an IT consulting firm by the name of Infosys. I’m currently with them, but kind of like laid off, if that’s what you want to call it.”

Davidson did not want to waste a single minute and decided to start his own business in November 2020 with Darius Nunn, who is a co-owner of Market on Main. Davidson also talked about how he and Nunn always wanted to own their business.

“Some people got laid off and some people stay on and they are trying to find me a different project to be a part of but at the same time I started my business back in November. Me and my business partner always talked about starting a business of our own and I know I always wanted to own a business and he does as well, because he has his own barber shop that he owns.”

When asked what it is like to run his own business, Davidson said, “It is gratifying.” because he dreamed of having his own business when he was a young kid.

The biggest challenge that Davidson and Nunn encountered was having construction issues in the basement. Due to COVID-19, they mainly struggled to find someone who can take a look and fix the problem. “I would say COVID-19 is probably half of the reason why we are not doing as well as we could. It is not bad, but it most definitely can get better,” said Davidson.

To overcome COVID-19 challenges, Davidson and his friend tried to double their effort to promote their business on social media like Facebook and thinking about partnering with DoorDash and Grubhub to gain more customers.

“When we opened up the store and Covid started to become very relevant we started to be marketing on Facebook and trying to think ways to draw people into the business, such as setting up DoorDash and Grubhub,” said Davidson.

In discussing the pros and cons of running a restaurant, Davidson said that the feeling of being his own boss and making his own schedule is something he is grateful for, while also acknowledging all the responsibilities that come with this type of role.

“The pros, I would say, is just the feeling of having my own business, setting my own hours, and being my own boss.” said Davidson. “The cons are if I am not bringing enough money to survive, then I have to find something else”.

In the next ten years, Davidson hopes his business will grow by expanding store hours, possibly being open 24/7, and securing liquor licenses for his store.

“In the next ten years, I would like to see my business being open ten to twelve hours a day if not 24 hours, having my liquor licenses, and turning the back stockroom into a kitchen so I can serve some hot food,” said Davidson.

When asked what advice he would give to someone thinking of starting his or her own business.

Davidson said, “Just do it and do not think twice about it. If you got your plan to follow your plan, and if you do not have a plan make a plan because the longer you wait, the longer before you do it”.

Davidson exemplifies what it is like to have the courage to help the community by establishing a convenience in a part of the city where it is most needed.