BUSINESS More companies jumping into Black History Month Some firms using February to show off year-round lines

NEW YORK — From shoes and T-shirts to dolls and tote bags, more companies and brands are getting into the business of Black History Month but trying not to leave the impression that African American consumers are important just once a year.

Some businesses are using February to show off the diversity of their year-round product lines or to draw attention to the creative talent of their African American employees.

Target rolled out a Black History Month assortment that spotlights black-owned brands such as Honey Pot feminine products, Lip Bar cosmetics and Scotch Porter, which specializes in men's grooming. The collection includes books, music and food that are favorites among Target's African American employee resource group, which has more than 1,000 members. The company has been promoting the products through blogs and commentary from its staff.

H&M has a new street wear collection designed in collaboration with Ruth Carter, the Academy-Award winning designer behind the costumes for films including “Black Panther,” “Malcolm X” and “Amistad.” The pants, shirts, totes and hats — featuring the Pan-African flag colors of red, black and green — debuted in February, but the collection was not billed as a Black History Month tribute.

“Companies are getting smart about making it integrated into the rest of the year, as opposed to one month when you give money to the NAACP or run an ad, as opposed to treating it as an expense, just one of those things we have to do otherwise we'll get in trouble,” said Brenda Lee, founding director of the marketing research firm Vision Strategy and Insights, which researches African American, Latino and Asian consumers.

Nike launched a special edition sneaker 15 years ago for Black History month with the Pan-African colors. This year, it has an entire collection modeled by young black leaders, including artist Shani Crowe and McKinley Nelson, founder of Project sWish, a Chicago foundation dedicated to inner-city youths.

Michaels, the arts and crafts retailer, has a collection of black heritage products this year, a project that originated with its African American and black employee resource group. The products include printed vinyl rolls that have proved so popular that Michaels plans to include them in its permanent collection.

“A major part of avoiding missteps is being authentic in anything you do,” said Davette Angelo, a merchandising product manager, adding that he and designer Sharae Averhart “pulled on our experiences and backgrounds to put this collection together.”

Still, there have been mistakes along the way.

OneUnited Bank, the country's largest black-owned bank, released a debit card in mid-February with Harriet Tubman on it as a way to highlight the stalled effort to put the abolitionist icon on the $20 bill. There was an instant backlash from Twitter users who chafed at the image of the former slave on a debit card.