Meet Felicia and Winchel Elibert; they are behind a four-acre Fayetteville, GA, shopping plaza that is already home to multiple businesses.
As an entrepreneurial couple, Winchel owned multiple barbershops, including a Smoothie King. Felicia, on the other hand, worked as a nurse and is the founder of several Cleansing Waters Wellness Center locations.
Their journey to owning a plaza started when they sighted a sign post located across from their Smoothie King with the inscription, “for sale.”
“Right across from our Smoothie King and Cleansing Waters location in Fayetteville, there was a sign that said land for sale. We made a phone call to ask about the land, which was at a good price. We checked with our realtor and were encouraged that this was a really good investment,” Felicia told 95.5 WSB.
The couple will spend the next four years developing the idea for the shopping avenue, which they named Kingdom Corners. The name for the shopping mall was inspired by a Bible verse.
Winchel told 95.5 WSB, “The Matthew 5:5 [5] ‘Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth’ verse came to mind while we were at the groundbreaking ceremony. That is when I started to understand the magnitude of us being chosen to do this project. That is why we named the plaza Kingdom Corners. We are blessed.”
The Eliberts opened the plaza on November 1. Today, the shopping center is home to multiple businesses like Frida’s Bar and Grill, Southern Fire Kitchen, Salada, Tanzar Nail Bar, Dough Boy Pizza, Smoothie King, and Cleansing Waters Wellness.
The ownership of Kingdom Corners made the couple the first Black developers to own a plaza in Fayetteville—making them an inspiration to the community.
“We have been getting phone calls, texts, and folks stopping by—just to say what an inspiration we are in the community. Now it is really hitting us. Making history and what that means. Not just to us, but what it means to our community,” Felicia said to WSB-TV Atlanta News.