Daughter of Jamaican immigrants helps modernise family’s Sam’s Caribbean Marketplace

NEW YORK, United States. Melissa Morris’ parents migrated to the United States from Jamaica in the late 1970s, settling in the Bronx before moving to Long Island, where she was born. Her father worked as an editor at Newsday and her mother as a nurse at Mercy Hospital in Rockville Centre.

“After moving to Long Island, my father recognised an unmet need in the community. At the time, there were limited options for Caribbean food and groceries on Long Island,” Morris said.

After several years of planning, her parents opened Sam’s Caribbean Marketplace in December 1993 at 225 Hempstead Turnpike, West Hempstead. It sells Caribbean groceries, food and products.

“What started as a vision became a family business that has continued to serve the community for more than three decades,” she said.

Education

Morris earned a BA in Communications from St Francis College in Brooklyn before going on to business school at Molloy University. She is now an adjunct lecturer at Marymount Manhattan College, which has since become Northeastern University’s New York City campus.

Modernising the business

One project she is particularly proud of was persuading her father to revamp the store’s online shopping platform. “Our previous website was losing business because the interface was no longer easy for customers to navigate,” she said.

The store held its first Customer Appreciation Day on 20 June 2026, with gift baskets and promotional items from vendors.

Morris said businesses needed to address the ethical use of artificial intelligence. “It should never replace our own thoughts, ideas, creativity or human connection,” she said.

Preserving culture

She sees the business as a way of preserving Caribbean pride and traditions. “I want future generations to continue having access to the foods, products and cultural experiences that connect them to their heritage,” she said.

Her parents’ journey taught her that “success does not happen overnight. It takes patience, preparation, resilience and the willingness to keep moving forward.”