Al-Ansar Super Market always has something new, something for everyone

Photos by Cherrie Hanson

Owners of Al Ansar Super Market, from left to right, Max Zubair Ahmad, Rasul Bi Ahmad, with their daughter Ma May Cho, care about the products they sell and the community they serve. (Not shown; son Hafeez Ameen)

Right in the heart of Milwaukee’s south side neighborhood Polonia is Al-Ansar Super Market, 2944 S 13th St., located in a strip of businesses between Karina’s Pizza and Hidayah Asian Market. Opened in 2020, Al-Ansar is a one-stop shop for imported groceries, household goods, apparel, alluring gifts and more with its unique and comprehensive inventory. It is a family-owned business that always has something new as well as something for everyone.

Originally from Myanmar, Al-Ansar owners Rasul Bi Ahmad and Max Zubair Ahmad immigrated to the U.S. from Thailand in 2008.

Wisconsin Muslim Journal sat down with Rasul Bi Ahmad to learn more about the family business. Ahmad’s daughter Ma May Cho, translated her mother’s responses from Burmese for this interview.

“Al-Ansar” means “the helpers” in Arabic. Ahmad so-named the store because she wants to help those who come to her in any way that she can. “A lot of immigrants come here, and they need a lot of help with phone calls and letters and things like that,” Cho elaborates. “She wants to be there to help other people.”

After years of working for other people, Ahmad wanted to become self-employed, establishing the family’s first business, Khan Grocery (1125 W Lincoln Ave., originally MRZK Market) in 2016 before opening Al-Ansar Super Market, her second business, in 2020.

“From a small store, we expanded to a bigger store here,” Cho explains. “Alhamdulilah, everything worked out.”

The vast inventory resembles a department store, offering everything from groceries to household items, clothing, and decor.

Al-Ansar greets customers with beautiful floral arrangements in its front windows while a prominent green awning features its name in both English and Burmese. The store is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 8 p.m., and they can be reached at 414-630-7276.

Khan Grocery is now owned by Ahmad’s daughter Mazinmar Oo and her husband Anas Khan. Max Zubair Ahmad is also co-founder of the local Rohingya mosque, Masjid Mubarak.

Al-Ansar is run by Rasul Bi, Max Zubair, and their children, Ma May Cho and her twin brother Hafeez Ameen. Both Cho and Ameen acquired their bachelor’s degrees in business administration from UW-Milwaukee in order to be prepared for when they eventually will run the family business.

“My mom and dad did most of the work while they put us in schools, and now that we’ve both graduated it’s going to be more us running it,” Cho shares. “When we were in college, we didn’t know what field to go into at first, but my mom put all her heart and soul into this. When she’s retired, I don’t want it to go to waste.”

Ahmad appreciates the Polonia neighborhood for its diversity of clientele and of fellow shop owners. “A lot of our people move into this area,” Cho notes. “She really likes the community here.”

One example of tea and coffee sets available at Al-Ansar.

Al-Ansar has an immense selection of all sorts of things for sale. Walking through the store, one will find pots and pans, tableware, many kinds of coffee and tea, sweet and savory foods, ornate vases, laundry detergent, rugs and tablecloths, handbags, fragrances, colorful sets of bedsheets, Islamic artwork and much more. “Anything and everything you can think of, we have it here,” Cho laughs.

Much of what Al-Ansar sells is sourced from wholesalers in Milwaukee and Chicago, imported from Southeast Asian countries like Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines. Some products come from places like India, China and South Korea.

Traditional Burmese velvet sandals for women in many colors and styles.

In their grocery aisle is a wide range of South and Southeast Asian spices, noodles and snack foods. The aisle’s frozen section contains a well-stocked variety of zabihah halal meat and seafood.

“The spicy noodles went popular and a lot of people came asking for them, so now we have all kinds of spicy noodles that you want,” Cho mentions.

Al-Ansar notably has an extensive quantity of authentic modest clothing at affordable prices, for both men and women and for all ages. Shoes, scarves, hijabs, abayas, thobes, graphic shirts and various accessories are all available for purchase.

“Here in America, it’s really hard to shop for modest clothing,” Cho notes. “Since we get it from Muslim countries, we get the latest designs in fashion.”

There are new items being added to Al-Ansar’s inventory almost every other week, which means that there are often discounts on items in order to make room for new ones. Cho says, “Every time there’s a new thing coming out, we have to put it in the store.”

In February the family is going on Umrah, so Al-Ansar Super Market will be closed for two weeks. When they come back, everything in the store will be 30 percent off before they bring in new items for Ramadan.

“I’m very proud of my mom,” Cho concludes. “She worked so hard that she paid off this building too. Everyone in the community, they know who we are.”

Ahmad’s next goal is to have an office space that will be used to open up a staffing agency, where she can continue to help Rohingya and Burmese immigrants fill out job applications and find work.