A West Concourse woman is determined to launch the Bronx’s first yarn bodega.

Ismelda Molina-Rodriguez says her father, Jesus Molina, became a bodega owner of 30 years after coming to the Bronx from the Dominican Republic.

“My father really hustled, he started off as a dishwasher,” she said.

Now that her father is retired, she hopes to follow in his footsteps and create a bodega that incorporates her love for the fiber arts.

“The concept is a local yarn shop in the Bronx with bodega vibes and aesthetics,” she said.

Molina-Rodriguez began crocheting in 2015 and spinning her own yarn in 2019.

She noticed a lack of accessibility to fiber arts after the Michaels at the Bronx Terminal Market closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. That is when she developed the idea of opening the yarn bodega.

Rodriguez says the yarn bodega is in the works and has launched a GoFundMe to help kickstart the project.