11 March 5-11, 2026 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com NEW TIMES | CONTENTS | LETTERS | NEWS | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | CAFE | MUSIC | Month XX–Month XX, 2008 miaminewtimes.com MIAMI NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | FILM | ART | STAGE | NIGHT+DAY | METRO | RIPTIDE | LETTERS | CONTENTS | Closing Time A beloved Coconut Grove convenience store shutters after 30 years. BY VICTORIA STANZIONE A nother piece of old Coconut Grove is disappearing as rede- velopment reshapes the neighborhood’s familiar cor- ners. After three decades serv- ing Coconut Grove, Grand 7th, the longtime convenience store many locals still called Kwik Stop, has closed its doors. Owner Firas Hussain confirmed that Feb- ruary 19 marked the shop’s final day as the property prepares for changes connected to the upcoming Ziggurat mixed-use develop- ment along Grand Avenue. Hussain remained on-site last week as he cleared out his space, bringing to an end a 30-year run that trans- formed a simple corner store into a daily gath- ering place for generations of Grove residents. The closure reflects a broader shift unfold- ing across Coconut Grove, where longtime lo- cal institutions are increasingly making way for large-scale projects. But for Hussain, the store was never just a business. “For me, coming to work never really felt like work,” he says. “Even late nights, it felt like being part of something. It wasn’t just a store. It was a place where life happened.” Hussain’s journey began as a college student working part-time in convenience stores be- fore eventually taking over the former 7-Eleven on Grand Avenue in the mid-1990s. Over time, he reshaped the space into something dis- tinctly local, layering in services that reflected the Grove’s evolving needs. He even raised his daughter, Aya Hamza, at the store, who grew up helping her dad and loving the store. In 2013, he subleased the kitchen to Asian Thai Kitchen, creating an unlikely food desti- nation inside a convenience store. Five years later, Grand 7th added a pharmacy, which be- came a lifeline during the pandemic, offering vaccines, prescriptions, and essentials when access elsewhere was limited. “We were part of people’s daily lives,” Hussain says. “During COVID (lockdown era), we were one of the only places open. That’s when you really feel connected to a neighborhood.” Born in Baghdad, Iraq, Hussain built the store around a simple idea: familiarity mat- ters. Regulars came in daily. Kids grew up around the counter. Neighbors lingered lon- ger than they planned. “A lot of customers became friends,” he says. “I watched kids grow up, go to Coconut Grove Elementary, and come back as adults. That’s when you realize you’re part of the neighborhood.” But the Coconut Grove Hussain once knew when he originally opened the store is no longer the same. “The soul of the Grove is changing,” he says. “I still love it, but it’s going in a different direc- tion. Rents started rising, and that’s when you began seeing small businesses pushed out.” His sentiment echoes a broader shift that longtime residents have watched unfold in recent years, as legacy businesses close and redevelopment reshapes the neighborhood’s commercial core. Local resident Alaina Sanders sees that tension playing out across the Grove. While she understands the appeal of new invest- ment, she hopes the neighborhood does not lose what made it feel distinct in the first place. She says she still prefers “local small businesses over big-box retail” and hopes fu- ture development keeps the Grove feeling “small and quaint.” For Hussain, the changes are complicated. He understands growth is inevitable, but be- lieves identity is harder to rebuild once it disap- pears. “You can’t just replace every- thing,” he says. “Places like this are part of the Grove’s identity. If you lose all of that, you lose what made it special.” Just blocks away, one of the Grove’s most debated developments is al- ready signaling how dramatically the neigh- borhood may change in the coming years. The Ziggurat project, a luxury mixed-use de- velopment planned along Grand Avenue, will anchor a sweeping redesign of nearby Fuller Street beginning in summer 2026. The project, led by the Allen Morris Com- pany and designed by Oppenheim Architec- ture, will introduce trophy office space, ultra-luxury residences, new retail, and a pe- destrian paseo connecting Fuller Street to Kirk Munroe Park. City officials and develop- ers say the multi-million-dollar transforma- tion will create greener public spaces and improve walkability. But among longtime residents, the plan has sparked anxiety about whether Coconut Grove’s famously laid-back character can sur- vive rapid redevelopment. Fuller Street, once a quiet pedestrian corridor where neighbors gathered casually and kids lingered after school, has become symbolic of what many call “old Grove” energy. Some fear the rede- sign could shift the area toward a more com- mercial, curated environment resembling denser parts of Miami. The debate reflects a larger question fac- ing the neighborhood as legacy businesses like Grand 7th disappear: whether growth can coexist with the sense of familiarity that defined the Grove for decades. While he operates other stores elsewhere in Miami, Hussain says reopening in the Grove would be difficult. The mix of students, residents, nightlife, and foot traffic that made Grand 7th work is hard to replicate. “It’s hard to find another location like this,” he says. “You need the right combina- tion, and that’s rare.” In these final days, Hussain finds himself re- flecting less on business and more on memory. Hurricanes, late-night rushes, and everyday conversations are all tied to a single address. “We’ve been through everything in those walls,” he says. “It’s not just work. It’s a big part of my life.” After 30 years behind the counter, Hussain is not just closing a store. He is stepping away from a chapter that helped define a corner of Coconut Grove. “It wasn’t just a job for me,” he says. “It was my life.” [email protected] ▼ Café Firas Hussain photo Beloved Coconut Grove convenience store Grand 7th has closed after 30 years as a family- owned business to make way for a major redevelopment. “I WATCHED KIDS GROW UP, GO TO COCONUT GROVE ELEMENTARY, AND COME BACK AS ADULTS. THAT’S WHEN YOU REALIZE YOU’RE PART OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD.”
