The holiday shopping season is in full swing in the Bay Area. But between the pandemic and the rise of online shopping, many retailers are struggling to stay afloat.
On Sunday, a gathering of Black entrepreneurs in Oakland highlighted the need for courage and imagination to make it in today’s challenging economy.
A Black Santa Claus welcomed visitors to the 7th annual Black Sunday Holiday Shopping Experience pop-up event for local African American business owners. But according to Cathy Adams, president of the sponsoring Oakland African American Chamber of Commerce, just because the companies weren’t large didn’t mean they were inexperienced.
“You have smaller companies like this that aren’t located in a commercial building, and they’ve been around for about 20 years!” she said.
One of them was the decorator of the event. Cathyfara Brown started out making simple balloon animals, and now her company creates balloon masterpieces that are in high demand during the holidays.
“I wanted to make sure I learned well, but I was never intimidated,” Brown said. “And this company has just given me the power to know that whatever I put my mind to, I can do it. And it’s just taken me further than I ever thought I could do.”
Della Edwards had the courage to listen when inspiration whispered in her ear.
“And this idea said to put a dress on a bottle of apple cider. And I thought, what?” Edwards said.
But from that came her ‘Chic Champagne Coats’, a stylish decoration resembling a party dress or tuxedo that slips over the neck of a bottle and turns it into a unique gift.
“So I went to Walmart,” Edwards said, “bought a hundred bottles of apple cider and started playing with these dresses and then started selling them in the grocery store parking lot.”
And “New Orleans Bill” Washington was selling his spicy potato salad in major stores when the pandemic started hurting sales. So he focused on producing and directly marketing herbal packages.
“They just add the potatoes to the kit and a little mayonnaise. And that’s it. They have my Creole potato salad that I’ve been selling to the stores for about 25 years,” Washington said.
It takes brains, guts and creativity to make it in today’s changing market. And business coach and strategist Dr. Lynette McElhaney said this has been a historic strength of the black community.
“I think some people have lost confidence over time,” she said. “There has been a lot of pressure to get a college degree and go work for someone else. But we are finding that entrepreneurs are being born into the African American community every day and it is one of the ways we can overcome economic downturn to survive.”
The business environment is changing rapidly, and like the dinosaurs of old, those who cannot adapt quickly are unlikely to survive. But African Americans have always had to rely on their own drive and ingenuity, and even in this economy, that allows them to respond quickly when an opportunity presents itself.
John Ramos
