Henry “Hank” Jackson, owner and patriarch of family-owned Hank's Mini Market, a community center in Hyde Park, has died at age 85.
Jackson died last month at his View Park-Windsor Hills home, according to his family.
Born in Shreveport, Louisiana, and raised in Dallas, Jackson moved to Los Angeles in 1960 and worked in finance at Lockheed-Martin for 37 years. But the desire to own his own business was always present. After leaving his full-time job, Jackson worked nights at local liquor stores, eventually working his way up to become manager of Slauson Liquor.
A portrait of Henry “Hank” Jackson taken in the 1960s.
(Hank Jackson's family)
Jackson bought Hank's Mini Market in Hyde Park in 1997, when he was 57 and when the South Los Angeles neighborhood was still recovering from the Los Angeles riots and was barely considered a destination for reinvestment. But Jackson, who lived nearby with his family, saw potential.
“Most people would be relaxing or thinking about retirement, and he's embarking on this really risky adventure,” said his daughter Amy Jackson. “I think what was really important for him was to have something of your own that you could really dedicate yourself to. He always used to say, 'Why rent something when you can buy it?'”
His daughter Kelli Jackson added, “He has a history of showing up and serving the community for decades before and after Hank's Mini Market.”
Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell adjourned a Board of Supervisors meeting in Jackson's memory on October 21. “During a period of disinvestment in which South Los Angeles communities were increasingly ignored and underserved, Mr. Jackson made the brave decision to open Hank's Mini Market near Florence and 11th Avenue,” Mitchell said. “While many companies were leaving the area, he decided to stay and invest.”
The liquor store's clientele was varied, but Hank “could make a friend out of anyone,” according to Amy. He recalled a customer who returned to the store years later, hoping to thank Hank for all his support. “He was going through a tough time, I don't think he could find a job. Years later, he came back and found a job and was doing well.”
Hank left his day-to-day operations in 2017 to focus on his other passion and hobby: golf.
“Naturally, over time, he spent more time on the golf course and my sister, my mom and I were the ones in that space,” Kelli said.
Henry “Hank” Jackson and his daughter Kelli Jackson.
(Hank Jackson's family)
Kelli was finishing a master's degree in public art at USC around the same time her father retired. He had originally planned to leave the store after completing the program, but as he developed a thesis on the black history of Hyde Park and surrounding communities, he began to understand the impact of his family's market.
“I realized there is beauty in this space, in this community,” he said. “And I'm so grateful that my dad saw the beauty [and thought] invest in this community in 1997.”
They partnered with the Los Angeles Food Policy Council and Sweetgreen, who helped with a complete redesign of the store that provided more space for community events and helped bring fresh produce and other healthy items to combat food inequality in the area.
“There is a great common thread between the way I do things and the way he did them, and [there’s] nothing really different except the times and the way I do it,” Kelli said. “We do produce giveaways at the farmers market, but my dad at that time gave people credit and helped them in their time of need.”
Kelli reopened Hank's Mini Market in March 2019, with a new exterior, colorful products on display, and shelves filled with small, local brands, with a focus on art and community. Just a month later, it became a center of healing when it hosted a memorial for Nipsey Hussle, a Crenshaw District rapper, businessman and activist who was murdered in the parking lot of his Marathon Clothing store, about a mile from the market.
Exterior of Hank's Mini Market with a Nipsey Hussle window wrap.
(Hank Jackson's family)
“I felt it was important for a Black business in South Los Angeles to support and bring the community together to remember and reflect on Nipsey Hussle…the visionary of Slauson and Crenshaw. That part really inspired me for what we're building here,” Kelli said in a video posted to the market's Instagram.
Kelli said her father's decision to purchase the store rather than enter into a tenant-landlord agreement has allowed the market to weather a turbulent economy, including the 2009 recession and the COVID pandemic.
“That was something very important to him. Not only having the business but also owning the land,” Kelli said. “So despite all the ups and downs of all the things we've had to go through, we can still be in that space.”
Hank's grandson, Langston Lee, hopes to achieve similar success one day. “I dream of having a house one day and being able to do things like that. And he didn't dream, he just did it. It's amazing to have a figure like that.”
Hank's Mini Market is temporarily closed, with plans to reopen in 2026. Kelli anticipates that a memorial to Hank will coincide with the reopening, and that the current Nipsey Hussle window wrap will be replaced with a tribute to his father.
