The 'big dream' behind the new African store in Bolton which went viral online

After completing her studies, Tejiri Oghene Ceijiri found herself at a crossroads. Having graduated in mechatronics at the University of Bolton jobs were hard to come by.

However, already in love with the town, Tejiri had no plans of leaving the country anytime soon and needed a way to support herself amidst a difficult job market.

“It takes time to understand everything.” She told the MEN. “Most of the jobs I applied for needed experience here in the UK and I don’t have that.

READ MORE: 'Afro-Asda': The UK's first Afro-Caribbean supermarket, unpacked

“I have experience from Nigeria back home but most of them don’t accept that. It was difficult to go even a month without working. I managed to get interviews and I was nervous, but it was always one or two things that disqualified me, like my Visa status. But this was home for me now.”

Tejiri saw a gap in the market and decided to open a local business to serve her community. She is one of the new age shoppers who wants to visit an African goods store that has the ambience of a modern chain supermarket.

After six months of hard work, Afro Fusion Mart is now open on Blackburn road. The store also offers delivery to homes across the nation for orders over £100.

But that's just the beginning, she has dreams of growing enough to one day have a sprawling all-encompassing unit that does it all, for everybody.

““My mum is a fashion designer like my grandma was and she sells fabrics," she said.

“They used to send me out to collect stock for them and open the store, so I grew up around business. I want to one day have a place big enough to stock her clothes, where people can come in, do their hair and buy some groceries. That's the big dream. That was one of my motivations for