Black-owned businesses see surge
Awareness, support grow in national push after Floyd’s death
Kris Christian, a small-business owner in Chicago, was mourning the death of George Floyd when she was hit with an onslaught of online orders that caught her off guard.
The owner of Chicago French Press was home reeling after watching cellphone footage of the white police officer’s knee on Floyd’s neck when her iPhone lit up with notifications from new orders.
“I was crying when I kept hearing these Shopify ‘ching chings’ going off,” said Christian, who started the online coffee shop in 2016.
People are showering Black-owned businesses with support in the wake of protests against police brutality. The sudden attention on inequality in America has spun numerous online lists spotlighting Black-owned companies for people to support.
But the Black entrepreneurs who run the businesses say they have mixed feelings about that.
“On one hand, this is what we’ve been praying for.
This is the support we’ve wanted for so long,” Christian said. “But it comes after such horrible and disgraceful acts. It comes after all these Black men and women have been killed by cops.”
It started with a list
It turned out that her Chicago-based coffee brand was included on several blog posts, Google Docs and spreadsheets making rounds on Facebook and Twitter in a loosely connected effort to uplift the community.
One such list was created by Destinee Stark of Plain Township, Ohio, and includes more than 250 Blackowned establishments in the state.
Duan Gavel, a developer in Springfield, Missouri, created another one even before Google spreadsheets or graphics started circulating on social media urging people to support Black entrepreneurs.
Lois Hines, founder of the hair care company Tropic Isle Living, also saw a surge in business after the firm was included on a list. Orders for the products ramped up in late May, and the Jamaica-sourced castor oil brand flew off the shelves at Target and Walmart.
“At first we couldn’t understand it,” Hines said. “We were like, wait a minute. Is this people shedding light on black-owned businesses?”
As awareness spread, so did other tools making it easier to find Black-owned businesses around the country.
Yelp introduced a search attribute for shops to identify as Black-owned. And the customer review company added a list of places to choose from. A Yelp spokesperson said searches for Black-owned businesses on the platform increased 35-fold amid protests against police brutality.
UberEats also kicked off an initiative to support Black-owned businesses. The delivery company began waiving delivery fees for restaurant orders placed at Black-owned restaurants in the United States and Canada.
The movement may mark a cultural shift. For a long time, many Black entrepreneurs were wary of having their businesses labeled “Black-owned” out of fear that it would limit their customer base.
“When I started my business, I had advisers say ‘You shouldn’t put your face in front of your brand because that might turn off certain people from buying your coffee,’” Christian said. “Now, I’m glad I didn’t listen, because when people start searching for Blackowned businesses on Google, they find us.”