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Grassrootz Bookstore in Downtown Phoenix is more than a place to find rare reads. “Everything we do is rooted in community,” says co-founder Ali Nervis of the shop, which opened in 2019 and operates as a bookstore, co-working space, event center, community library and art gallery. It is also the only black-owned bookstore in Arizona. Right now, store manager Kylie Chamblee infuses tea with berries and citrus and sells it at the shop, but later...

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Eight years ago, Ali Nervis met his business partners, Henry Dickerson and Dominic Clark, when they were selling T-shirts and jewelry at small business events. “We share a lot of the same values in terms of why we’re in business – family, community and self-sustainability,” Nervis says. With their wives, the trio launched Archwood Exchange, a monthly swap-meet affiliated with the Buy Black Marketplace movement, in 2016. Their latest project: Straw & Wool, a hip...