She sold fruit as a sidewalk vendor. Now she has her own shop across the street

On a cool Tuesday morning, Elizabeth Alcarraz ambled around boxes of strawberries in the narrow aisles of her brightly lit fruit store squeezed into an aging West Carson strip mall. Behind one glass shelf were freshly sheared watermelons and cucumbers, with rows of tamarind candy vibrantly packaged above. It was about a half hour before Noemi’s Fruits opened at 8 a.m., but she had already flipped over the paper “open” sign now that her prep work was done.

View full article by: Los Angeles Times / Melissa Gomez