by
Black Girl With Long Hair
It’s a sad story that many of us have heard before but apparently not much has changed. The Florida Courier recently ran an article featuring the owners of black-owned beauty supply stores who talk about the discrimination they face in their attempts to break into the lucrative wig and weave industry.
Bernard White, owner of Nebby Beauty Supply in Oakland, said, “Most products are able to be ordered easily, but there is not a large profit margin to be made. Hair is where the margin is. You can make $3,000-$5,000 a day on hair sales alone.”
He added, “It is not really a hard industry to get into, it is getting hair that is the problem. It is a cold business in terms of the hair game. The Koreans have this industry on lock.”
Both Johnson and White agreed that getting hair is a huge hurdle, because the distributors are Korean and most times they will only sell to other Koreans.
White said, “I have to buy hair through exchange. It is rough, but if I don’t increase my hair game, I won’t be in business next year…”
Johnson said that some Korean distributors say they will not sell to stores within so many miles from their other clients, but when she tried to have hair sent to her Aliquippa location, which has no other beauty supply stores, they still would not let her purchase it.
She said one distributor also told her the hair she wanted was no longer being sold, but when she went to a local Korean beauty supply store, that same hair was there. When she inquired about it she was told that a local store had told the distributor that if he sold to her, he would no longer buy from him.
Apparently even workshops that teach business owners how to sell new wig/weave products to black women are held in Korean:
Johnson said she has attended several national conferences in regards to the Black hair industry and Koreans run a majority of them and the workshops are conducted in the Korean language, even the ones on how to sell to the Black consumer.
Apparently in the midst of all this the Black Owned Beauty Supply Association is basically asleep at the wheel:
The Black Owned Beauty Supply Association, which is supposed to be one of the resources for Black owned beauty suppliers, advertises that it’s a premier national organization that provides African-Americans the platform to demonstrate competitive leadership in the $9 billion Black hair care and cosmetic industry nationwide and nationally.
However when trying to contact them to find out what help they give suppliers, the website advertised a number that was disconnected and never returned emails.
When asked about the association, White said, “It is a joke.” Johnson said she has never contacted them but heard it is not a reliable resource.
And even some natural hair companies are unwilling to have their products sold in traditional beauty supply stores.
Johnson said that not only is hair hard to get but so are certain hair product lines that cater to women with natural hair or chemically treated hair. She said she has been trying to get a certain brand in her store for years, but the company refuses to let her carry it.
White said the same thing. He has tried to get certain popular Black hair care lines but the company will not let him carry it either because he is too close to one of their major distributors or he has to buy thousands of dollars in product, which is unrealistic for his store’s size.
The full article is pretty interesting (click here to read it). And the plight of these black beauty supply owners is unique. They are squeezed out of the wig/weave industry on one side, and out of the natural hair industry on the other. I’m not sure if it’s because natural hair brands don’t want their products associated with the traditional beauty supply store or what.
Ladies, what are your thoughts on all this?
108 Responses
I actually heard this from a half Korean half, Black guy that worked at a local beauty supply store that I frequent. He said he wanted to open his own store and the only reason why he was able to wad because he was Half Korean and spoke the language. I think someone like him could work to break open the barriers that are unfairly blocking out black store owners. Also, if blacks could get together and protest (not by marching or anything but by not buying from Korean stores only black owned businesses) maybe we could get a foot hold into the market.
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There is now a game changer in the wig/weave industry and it is Micore’ International. You no longer have to depend on Korean stores for your product and you can GET PAID TO WEAR HAIR. This is a great opportunity own a part of the industry you finance and circulate the money in your own commmunity. Plus Micore’ Hair comes with a 1 Year Warranty against tangling and shedding. What beauty supply store offers that? Why Just Buy Hair When You Can Buy A Hair Business?
http://www.MyHairPays.com
[img]https://bglh-marketplace.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/MicoreRemyBanner2.jpg[/img]
As an African American owner of the new wig boutique Random Glam, Inc, I ran into some of the same problems when trying to establish relationships with wig companies. Some who even have famous African American women fronting their product, refused to sell to me. I wonder if the actress knows that the company she represents has such discriminatory practices. As African American’s breaking into this game, we have to stick together and keep fighting the good fight. We’ve been up against tougher odds as a people. Also, as a people, we need to be sure to support Black-owned businesses just as much as we support the others.
Hello Black Business Owner of Random Glam, Inc. I am a black own Beauty Supply Retailer.I have been having trouble getting some of the major accounts from hair distributors for my store. Im located in a small town (rural area) St.Stephen, South Carolina about 60 miles from Charleston. Im so tired of complaining about this out right anticompetitive conduct among the Koreans. I want my business, I need my business, and I love my business. I will do everything humanly possible to keep it. That is why I have decided to take action. I have a complaint with the FTC. I will have to wait and see how that goes. I’m also trying to network with other black owners in the beauty supply business experiencing the same problems. Perhaps we can get our heads together and really do something other than complain….”Take some kind of legal action”. If you have any suggestions please give me a call 843-532-5558 I would love to hear from you. May God bless you and all your business endeavors. Hope to hear from you soon
wow only black people would get mad at another group for sticking together and monopolizing an industry. I am torn in this my mother makes her living from the industry and it is unfortunate so many independent black business’ cannot form the same types of buying groups. That is the only way to combat “business” is with business, if we were jewish do you think this conversation would be an issue. You may have to pay more though to support your own and thats the ugly truth never mentioned in these discussions.
you can shut all this down by what? WEARING YOUR OWN HAIR. If there is no demand, there is no business. But no, women love weave and will run over a black business to get to an Asian store all day every day. You can have two side by side and they’ll still have a complaint.
Okay…here’s my two sense…Everyone has a vaild point! But here is the real reason and the #1 reason being is that Blacks do not buy from Blacks. I can come out with my own natural hair care line at the fraction of the price or any beauty supply store and no one will buy it…O they will try it for free, but buy aint gone happen! I can sell it so cheap because I may make it home as a hobby so I really need to cover the cost of supplies. I swear…I get all kind of questions is this really natural or they want the reciepe to make it home so they wont buy it from you!Sometimes I just wanna say really…Are you asking the leading hair product indstury is their stuff natural and my list says sugar, salt, and oil…REALLY.Let’s just keep it real here! Some of us Black folks are like crabs in a bucket. We support the Koreans and their stores, but the mom and pop family owned beauty supply store dont stand a chance in this economy! If we stop giving these people our business and go to the smaller black own stores, they can’t exploit us! Trust me your over paying everywhere more there then with your own. A “Sale” sometimes is not always a “SALE” when you find out how much they paid for it.
Is this news? I don’t blame Asians at all. They stick together, they form bonds, they help one another climb up the ladder. The reason why some of the black-owned beauty suppliers fail is because we don’t do the same. And in the age of the Internet, I refuse to believe that a black beauty supply owner cannot form business relationships and source their own suppliers straight from China or India. And why can’t these same beauty supply stores be innovative enough to team up with other black-owned beauty suppliers to increase their strength and negotiating power and to benefit from economies of scale? Why are they trying to copy the Korean method, why don’t they do something different?
I haven’t stepped a foot in my local hair supplier in 2 years because I buy all the weave products I need straight from suppliers in Asia, and as the £ is strong, I get excellent quality hair for the fraction of the price. I was spending £20.00 every 2 weeks for 2 packs of the cheapest and most hideous quality weave that would last a week and a half at my local Indian-owned beauty supply store, that works out to £520 (not including conditioners, hair moisturisers etc) a year spent on weave. Now I spend £80 for 2 packs of virgin weave (18 inch) that lasts me two years and I buy coconut oil from the supermarket.
It’s time we smartened up. Don’t hate the player, hate the game.
Seeing that you have all this wonderful info, why not share the web address with others in this community that may want to do the same
this is an article about a black woman who started her own weave business in cambodi. she was also featured on the dealbook section of nytimes.com
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bessie-a-winnafeku/arjuni_b_1368688.html
The next time anyone wants to spend their hard earned dollar in a Korea-owned wig and beauty store: Take a good look at the picture on this site! Read about how some Koreans see and portray black people in the media…
http://populargusts.blogspot.com/2012/03/three-decades-of-black-face-in-korea.html
Bottom line:
I went natural years ago and I make my own products…I refuse to be a patsy to anyone who can’t respect me in their store.
So basically, do not complain when you continue to support them and their foul business practices with your black wealth.
Peace…
Wow Sheila, thanks for those links. Utterly disgusting, but a much needed eye opener. It’s not like we weren’t made aware already, but we choose to ignore. We patronize that Asian owned cleaners, we buy the Chinese food, we frequent their beauty supplies, with full knowledge that these people want to get rich off of us, but would not dare live among us. The first thing that comes to my mind is…”WE NEED JESUS”!
We are the first people, Africa is the first continent and most importantly God made man in His image. So what does that tell us? It’s high time for our people to wake up! We are descendants of kings and queens. Our ancestors were doing open heart surgery before it was written in the medical books. We are regal, we are royalty. How did we forget these things? How did we forget?…Smh!
My Lord said if the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first, no servant is greater than His master. I’m going to keep praying for my people, that’s all I can do at this point.
Omg! I’ve suspected this crap sometime ago. I frequent the west side of the city from time to time. True story: 2 beauty supply stores. One black owner, One middle easterner owner. Both im a Black neighborhood. Do you know the beauty supply shop owner thats middle easterner….has more customers than the black owner.
We as a black people can be so ignorant! We want take the time out to STOP and look what’s going on in our own neighborhood! And to add we just don’t care. What really pisses me off! The foreign owner has taken on the personality, acting like he is one of us! For real! The same goes for those check in cash places. They are all in the black neighborhoods. None in the white.
WE ARE STILL ON THE PLANTATION! MENTAL PLANTATION! UGGHHHHH!!!!!!
The dependence on Asian, Indian, Malaysian and Brazilian hair is totally and completely sickening to me. It used to be that only women who were ill with a condition which caused hairloss wore wigs. Now, it seems as though weave and wig wearing has become a standard and very common practice- especially among black women. There are so many women walking around with this fake hair on and their own natural bedebees (buckshots, curls, coils, or whatever you want to call them)poking out around the edges. They are of the mistaken belief that they look beautiful. No, they look like women who are pining for a look they weren’t born with.
The battle to be able to sell Asian, Indian, Malaysian and Brazilian hair is a stupid one. These people GREW this hair and have a right to do what they want to with it. Are we so PATHETIC that we are going to engage in a fight which continues to perpetuate the beauty myth that denigrates us??? This is self hate and ignorance at its best. Sad
This just motivates me more in my transitioning journey… I hate any form of unfairness and exploitation. I decided to go natural because I felt that exploited by the hair industry to spend more than I can afford, to achieve a form of beauty that i already possess much more of. I have nothing against people that have choosen to use wigs, weaves or relaxed hair, i just feel it shouldn’t be a prerequisite to how one should look.
I’m a Nigerian living in Nigeria and I can tell you that the dependence on ‘human hair’ has become an epidemic! There’s brazilian, indian, malaysian, peruvian, egyptian, all kinds of ‘-ian’ hair and people are buying like the world is about to end! The hair costs sooooooooooo much and women will do anything to buy! Some go as far as sleeping with men to but this hair.
In the midst of this epidemic though, I can’t help but admire the sellers of this hair. We don’t have the issues of koreans taking over the beauty industry, but Nigerian women have stepped up and recognized the business opportunity in the hair game. So many of them have become entrepreneurs, they go to India themselves, buy the hair from source and bring it back to sell. Some have even become major distributors to smaller retailers.
My advice to black BSS owners, break the cycle and go to the source. Spend time online and look for black people who do it in other countries, connect with them and figure out how to but from source.
There’s a lady in the UK (Aunty Funmi) whose brand of hair costs as much as $500 for 8 inches! The hair has become status symbol here in Nigeria to the point that you can’t wear the hair without a major designer bag/shoes/clothes to go with it. From what I hear, the woman buys from Asia and she created a kind of conditioner for the hair that gives it a different texture which is what makes it so appealing to the tons of women who buy it.
I think i’m digressing, but the point I’m making is that it is VERY possible to create a niche even in the midst of the Korean monopoly. it just takes a new, more aggressive way of challenging the status quo. I doubt that Koreans will prevent anyone from going abroad to source for hair.
Let’s face it, the demand for hair isn’t going to reduce any time soon, black business owners just need to up their game when it comes to making sure the dollars reside with them!
I really dislike the ‘whatever’ attitude some black women have regarding this practice. The common retort is ‘it’s capitalism’ and the main ones spouting this are not benefiting from it at all- they are contributing to it.
Until we start making conscious decisions about to whom and where our money’s going, this mess will continue.
reading some of the comments have made me feel ill. instead of being outraged more than a few posts are passive and ‘who care’s again defending the oppressor. Daev was so on point with her first post and then folks came right in and proved her right.SAD
grow your own hair and you won’t need to worry about this ish.
sometimes, i just can’t feel sorry for us black. we’ve got to be some of the dumbest people around. i’m sorry, but that’s just how i feel.
you give your money to people who can’t stand you and you think they will have more respect for you because you give them money? no, actually, they have even less respect for you cuz they see how dumb you are to give your money to someone who can’t stand you.
another reason to be natural and not use weave.
stop whining and complaining and put them out of business by going natural and learning to love and nurture your own hair.
it’s just sooooo simple.
score another for team natural. lmao.
This is really sad. I like supporting black owned business, especially when it comes to my hair. Koreans don’t know what we want and can’t really cater to us like black people can. But if anyone has seen Good Hair, it’s evident that Black women rather go to the Korean to buy hair than to a black salon. I don’t mind supporting but there’s nothing but Korean-owned stores in my neighborhood as far as I know.
Hmm…
Concerning Weave: How exactly could Black-Afro-Hair people demand a piece of the cake when the weave does not grow from them? Darn right we are the “consumers” and not the “sellers” because it’s not coming from OUR bodies. So if the Asians are making money of of… THEIR hair, we can’t really be mad.
Concerning Formulated Products: Yea, that’s an issue. I’m glad to read the stories of those who made up their own products and are doing well.
I have a product for the hair industry myself but I don’t want to release it too early because I don’t want the Asians to try to rob me.
Please believe that they have there beady eyes on the natural hair movement.
did you really just make a slur? ignorance and racism.
and no, I don’t believe that they will have as much of a grip on the natural hair movement because again people are coming up with products that involve a FORMULA and likely some sort of patent should come with it (if the inventors are smart).
I agree with you ‘maralondon’. I do not believe you/she was making a slur, and you better believe their ‘eyes’, beady are not, are on the natural hair care business for blacks.
Part of the problem and a lot of the solution is: If there was no demand, there would be no need for supply (or at least it would dwindle). We, Black women, (notice “we”) are the most unhappy with our appearance, especially our hair in its natural state. Yes, other races now wear wigs and weaves, but not at the rate of obsession and/or money we spend. Just look at YouTube, or television In one day I noticed that almost every Black celebrity or on a show including news, had or wanted hair like Kim Kardashian! If they couldn’t grow it and/or if it wasn’t the right texture then then bought it–and they bought it from a Korean or someone of Indian decent. I know because I have wigs upon wigs upon wigs. And guess what? My hair is 100% natural and is past my shoulders (4c). So why don’t I wear my own hair? It is thin and it doesn’t look as pretty as “African Export, Taren, LongHairDon’tCare2011, PrettyBrownBabyDoll or KimLove, just to name a few. Now see, I compared my hair to other Black women with natural hair and I have natural hair that people say “ohh you have ‘good’ hair”. By whose standards? To me it isn’t good hair. It doesn’t do what I would like it to do. it doesn’t frame my face or give me that classy/classic look/style that I like to have. So I by wigs that do what I want them to do for me. Why can’t I, we be happy with what GOD have us and obviously intended for us mostly pure Black or African American women to have…nappy hair. Now there, I’ve said it, nappy hair. I see perfectly beautiful sistahs changing their noses to look more like white women. Now what is even more funny is that we, with our naturally full lips are now getting our lips plumped…creating more money for yet another industry. We by the most fake ‘bling’ and purses to look like we have what we do not. Really do I believe that is a real LV, or Coach or that is a real five caret diamond in your ear and you are riding the bus, or living in subsidized housing? That money could have gone in a savings to first save up to purchase a home….that is another story…hair…hair. I don’t have the answer. I do know that I’ve prayed to God that my hair was thicker and would not fall out. I mean that literally and I was giving praise to a sister in church today for her naturally long 3C hair. Now she complimented me on my thinness (as she wished she was thinner). I said she was pretty, she says no you are beautiful…Neither of us could just take a compliment and be done with it. Insecure, obviously. I only feel sexy and beautiful when I’m “made up” and wigged down (I don’t wear weaves at this point because it is too stressful on my fragile and thinning hair). What is a Black woman to do? We have forums on forums on forums on natural hair or just wearing our natural hair, hot combed, flat ironed or creamy cracked. I usually wear styles (wigs–I have three of the exact same wig) like Halle Berry (I least I want to look like Black women); and I have my big curly afro-type wigs. Truth, I do feel guilty and bad when I go in those stores and the Asians are mostly curt, nasty and treat you like you are going to steal something; but not guilty enough not to not buy, because I’m not happy with what I have. Now it may be another thing if a woman has lost all of her hair for any reason, that would be the exception–meaning the market still would not be as lucrative since there are more women with hair than there are without hair. Most Asians don’t even drive American cars so it is no wonder. They will sell to us in our broken down communities, when we won’t even buy from each other. Why? Because we would have to my crook or necessity sell whatever we sell at a much higher rate. Have any of us thought about boycotting, even for one week, ALL in every land and country buying hair from the Asian market? It worked with Rosa Parks and the bus. Why not with hair. Are we so vain that we can’t go a week without purchasing hair? Then two, then three…Yes, we can complain about all the “Theys” we want to and have all the talk shows and forums, but until WE start hitting them wear it hurts, oh well. By doing this we would not only be sending a message that we really are NOT going to take it anymore, but we would be putting the hotcomb and our Black hair dressers back on the market (the old sistahs that can press some hair). Kim Kardashian, really!? There is not a Black sister that y’all want to emulate? Do we loathe ourselves that much, that much, that much?
Psalm 139.
@Sola, we really do loathe ourselves that much and that’s the reason why our communities are so broken down.
The state of the ‘hood simply mirrors the inner state of many black people…desolate, desperate, unloved. That’s why we let them get that way in the first place, and have done nothing to change them for decades.
Other people’s ethnic ‘hoods; jewish, korean, chinese, arab etc are vibrant vital places that are hubs of business, local colour and culture. They reflect the way they as communities feel about themselves.
I do feel for you. I feel your heartache. I think it’s very brave of you to express all of that on a public forum. So many people feel that way but simply cover it up with bravado, and never admit it, even to themselves.
And I bet you really are beautiful, like your church friend stated, but that’s no use to you if you feel ugly inside.
I’m not religious but I do believe in a god and I know for a fact that the god that created you and all your black features and nappy hair created you perfectly.
That’s the core truth that we need to connect to. The society we live in tells you something else, that you’re inferior and holds up a white blond straight haired ideal.
The black community/family you grew up in may have also told you that you weren’t good enough and held up a mixed race (light skin, good hair) ideal, but they are both WRONG. God’s ideal is you, exactly the way you were made.
You don’t need some other woman’s hair on your head. Their hair doesn’t make us beautiful, it just makes us deeply sad and ashamed. You already have the approval of the only person that really matters, just being yourself.
It’s no easy task, changing a lifetime’s worth of feelings of inferioriy, but the best approach is to see it like a kind of rehab.
Detoxing from society’s twisted perception of beauty and black women, involves effort, some pain and occasional relapses.
One little exercise that pays real dividends is to look at your reflection in the mirror every day and say ‘I love and accept myself completely’ or to say ‘thank you’ to your reflection.
Prayer to god, to help heal your heart and eyes so that you can see yourself the way god sees you, is also powerful.
I wish you all the very best.
I meant @JoanDavis
water is wet.
This is an OLLLLDDDD argument; Koreans control the DISTRIBUTION points, blah blah blah. What’s the solution? Go around them.
The Black owned hair extension and wig company Jaguar Luxury Remi http://www.jaguarluxuryremi.com has been doing it successfully for several years.
In the movie, Good Hair, Chris Rock interviewed the founder, who in 2006 ventured to Asia and sourced production factories of human hair extensions.
Today he is STILL successfully selling his own brand of Remi hair extensions, Jaguar Luxury Remi hair.
So…sounds like an opportunity for a non-racist person to become a distributor. Like, instead of focusing on the problem at the wholesale buyer level, why not look into becoming the person who sells the hair instead? I don’t know if that means you’ll have to sit outside the Indian temple and buy the hair as the women chop it off; that’s something for you to figure out.
As for me, I’m quite happy that BGLH and other sites empowered me with the knowledge to grow a head full of awesome hair that I love to wear. The weave issue won’t really affect me, but I WILL be more conscious about where I buy my Shea butter so I won’t be a part of the problem!
There are some online sources for shea butter, such as “From Nature With Love” which I think is American owned. You can also try and find “Fair Trade” options that are directly linked to the harvesters of shea in West Africa.
first off as my grandma always said 1 apple can spoil the whole bunch. They follow u around cuz black ppl have stolen from their stores b4 sooo They want to watch every1. Smh. 2nd hair is not our nitch they grow it, cut it, wash it, package it, and ship it to us!!! they created the biz not even thinking that an entire race could hate themselves enough to spend all their money for what we call good hair. personally my head doesnt like other ppls hair. LMAO!! So they shut us out of the biz. Boohoo. We have a long history of complaining about other ppl making more money than us on us. But what have we done?!?!
So u fell like its racist that they want sell to black ppl. Maybe. But u want to by directly from koreans and expect their convientions to b held in english. Thats quite close minded. how about taking the time to get to know ur compitition, oh and learn Korean. Seem like to much?! then find another way. Life is about respect, u have to respect every culture.Including ur own. Problem is we dont want to go the extra mile for any1 including our own.
Ok all natural companies dont want to sell to black buisnesses. Well they have set prices. whether online or in stores there prices r constant. So they deal with bigger easier to find distributers such as target,walgreens,wal-mart ect. knowing that they basically control the price. it’s hard to regulate small biz.
Is it fair?!?! Hell no!! But hey when has anything ever been easy or fair?!?! We enjoy 26 in hair and they supply it. and since ppl over seas r wearing their hair shorter it’s actually harder for them to find hair to export.Hence the ridiculous prices.
there’s a a very simple solution to this. let’s stop buying hair! we don’t need it!
i won’t disregard the use in cases of diseases. other than that,let’s stop.
Totally agree! This is the beginning of a new season for black hair and it will change we just need to be consistent and use social media to spread the message.
I say we wear our own hair more and depend less on foreign hair. It is unrealistic to think that because one insists on buying hair that was grown on someone else’s head, that the group of people who grew the hair have to respect you ( and your money) and sell hair to vendors who look like you. When we begin to show through our actions that we respect ourselves, things may change. Given the fact that SO MANY of us are exclusively buying and wearing hair that is totally unlike the hair that grows out of our head says volumes about how we feel about our own natural beauty. Yes, everyone has a right to style their hair the way they see fit, but we seem to be wearing fake straight hair to a greater extent than anyone else. Ain’t nobody buying our hair though! Something doesn’t smell right here, no matter how hard some of us try and convince ourselves that it has nothing to do with a questionable self image. Nope, I guess I didn’t drink that Yaki kool-aid. Lol!
IMHO, this situation (and so very many others like it), speak of the lack of self respect we continuously and repeatedly show the world we suffer from. Until and unless that changes, we can expect more of this kind of behavior – in the business world and beyond.
In other words, go for locally grown, domestic, sustainable hair!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was watching an episode of “I’m Having Their Baby” last night and featured was a black woman and her family. Aside from the sadness of the woman’s situation, I was dumbstruck by the fact that three generations of this woman’s family — grandma, mother, sisters, the woman herself — were all wearing straight-haired weaves and wigs. In one scene where they’re sitting at a table I couldn’t help but think: That’s 20 pounds of someone else’s hair sitting there! They looked bizarre and unnatural and yet that look is what’s increasingly considered NORMAL in parts of the black community.
But setting that aside: It really wouldn’t matter what texture of added hair is being worn if it really is the case that the supplier industry is dominated by an outside group. The solution isn’t rocket science: Stop patronizing them. Yet a lot of black folks would rather play the victim and whine about not being treated right, while STILL BUYING THE HAIR.
And as for “outside groups” I’m old enough to remember the same complaints being made about Arab grocers in the ‘hood. Before that it was Jewish grocers and other merchants. I’ve got several (black) store owners in my family tree going back to the early 20th century. Black folks growing businesses and then keeping the money in the community has been a challenge for decades now. WHY?
the only way to bypass all the business shit around this, is for us BLACK people to stop relying on wigs and weaves. Why must we own more than say 2 or 3 every year? occasional “relief” for a change of style, yes. But “substituting” our own hair, cos the Malaysian install is curlier/straighter/softer/etc … no, that’s what is making it a niche in the market.
I know there is this whole “natural hair isn’t for everyone” thing going around, but boy, i have lived in several countries, and those other people do things to their hair mostly for FUN, not because they think it’s a NECESSITY.
We know enough about our history by now, we know enough about the science of our hair, of relaxers, of traction alopecia, of chemicals in products, etc … why can we not make the switch?
We complain about Koreans making money off our backs, and yet, we still go into their shops (on the ground or online) and happily give them our money for some “good” hair.
I have nothing against the Koreans or other Asians making money from this, they found a niche, they are EXPLOITING it as best they can. We cannot win if we fight them on their own platform, so we must bring the tree down by cutting the roots: STOP BUYING FROM THEIR STORES.
If the weave/wig is that important to you, then settle with whatever you find in the Black Owned stores.
When suppliers see that their usual stores ain’t selling shit, they will look at the money they are losing and they might just start selling to the Black owners, who knows. And if they don’t, oh well, it’s not like we don’t have our OWN hair growing out of our own scalps!!
sooo true, and so sad
Well said
There was a great documentary produced on this a couple of years ago. There are practices that seem to effectively lock Americans out of the black beauty market. One thing a blog like this can do is to link to some companies that are producing locally and that are black owned. I think BGLH does a good job of this already but it might be useful to link to a black owned company that produces extensions, ect. since this appeals to some naturals. I think Dudley’s in California may be one of the last big companies in the US that’s black owned and producing at scale. In the long run, business is about relationships so companies that are based outside of the community will have to adapt and meed the needs of a consumer with broader options or choose to fail.
Good for the Koreans (and free enterprise), they keep that $$$ cycling back among their own, something we need to start doing.
Secondly, how about we stop investing money (9 BILLION ) worth into something not so damn superficial not to mention ridiculous (wearing another woman’s hair 24-7, I mean really???? ) and invest in our communities, owning property, starting businesses instead. Can you imagine if 9 BILLION dollars were invested by our own for our own? *Sigh*
+1
The top photo belongs to my sister Nastassia Davis. If you are going to use her photo as a common courtesy, you need to give photo credit to her. These pictures are her personal collection and are the property of Nastassia Davis. Please give her credit for using her photo. I would appreciate it. Thank You! http://www.nastassiadavis.com
once you post pictures on the internt there no longer yours
She didn’t demand it be taken down, she’s just politely asking for credit.
Not true. If it’s copyrighted, you have to get permission.
She only asked to be credited.
If you do not own the pic there should be a disclaimer saying so and a link to the source.Most don’t mind as long as the source is linked back to them.
The wasn’t linked back to her, that’s why she asked for credit.
It doesn’t matter to me. I think that there are ways to get through any barriers/stumbling blocks in life. That’s just me. If a black individual wants a bigger piece of that market share they can get it. Even with the road blocks they may face within that industry.
Michael Baisden has discussed this in length on his show. Honestly black dollars are powerful and we use them frivolously…
IMO….whos problem is it if the koreans has taken ove the black hair/product business? i am natural i wears my hair in crochet 80% of the time due to time constraint anyway i want into a black owed beauty store to buy the crochet hair and it was priced @6.99 whereas @ the korean store it’s 4.99. koreans are not the issue it’s GREED that is.
It’s possible that the Koreans sell to one another at a lower rate than they sell to others…if that’s true then they can afford to see the same product to you, for less.
EXACTLY Lillian Mae!
Thats exactly what it is and thats exactly what the problem is. The Black business owners are trying to get in the game but they are not getting the wholesale break that the Asians are getting, so therefore they have to charge a little extra to make a profit. Ish, they may have bought it for $4.99 also!
Yes ma’am! I wish black folks supported one another the way the Koreans support each other!
Though I was never a weave wearer, I have shopped at Asian owned beauty supply stores. I noticed a trend; they watch you while you shop and treat you as if they expect you to steal. I won’t patronize any business that treats me like that.
Interesting – one thing when it says natural hair product companies won’t let black bss carry their products, did they mean black owned natural hair product companies? If so, why not? Is it because black owned companies generally make smaller quantities of product and sell from their own store fronts and places that only carry natural products? It can’t be because I thought target carried some? Or is it because the consumer who uses the bss is viewed as a different consumer from the natural retailer’s consumer. I just don’t understand.
To support us that is…
This info. is nothing new… Like someone else stated up above, black women need to start rocking what God gave them. Or find a black owned shop to purchase ALL of their hair care needs. We have a lot of buying power why not use it?
Very good points made.In this day and age we have the resources and info to change things so boycotting but what us lacking is unity.We vote with our feet and our money so once that happens they will notice.the key for breakthrough is for people black owned hair companies to help others gain a market share and also invest in cosmetology schools teaching how to style natural hair.
Heres a thought. Let’s stop relying on the koreans for hair and make our own. We know what we want. Let’s stop looking for other races to play fair. They won’t. Time to start making stuff for us ny us. That will hurt their bottom line tremendously.
Make our own? I think you’ve completely overlooked the ‘good hair’ monkey that is on the backs of black women. These women want ‘good’ korean, maylasian, indian and now i hear brazilian hair and based on the article, the countries the hair comes from doesn’t want to give us entry. Moreover, to ‘make’ synthetic hair good enough to fake this good hair would take (i would imagime) special technology which i doubt they would sell to us as well.
As the article said,”this is nothing new to Black folks”. Where was the concern when Black beauty supply retailers were force out of business en masse by Korean’s?
Just wondering.
There’s nothing wrong with capitalism. However, when these Koreans retailers step up shop nationwide in Black communities, where they neither resided in nor recycled monies, there wasn’t a peep from Blacks. We and I do mean we, whether you patronized them or not, allowed newly arrived immigrants to economically flourish in Black neighborhoods. I find it humorous that many Blacks will not economically support fellow Blacks, yet, have no problem building wealth for other ethnic groups, then get upset when that same ethnic group diss them.
It may come as a shock, but, truthfully Koreans do not have to play ball with us! They do not have to share their distributors nor marketing strategies with us. If Koreans or big name cosmetic corporations do not want to sell to individual Black retailers, oh well. This is our fault, stop complaining and pointing fingers. And please don’t get mad, get wise. In other words don’t hate the player hate the game.
To set the record straight I have nothing against immigrants nor capitalism.
well you telling the truth
To Deann and all of the other folks incorrectly asserting that these are just the breaks of capitalism, I have three words: Federal Trade Commission.
It sounds as if there’s a reasonable case to be made that the Koreans are engaging in collusive practices. If so, they’re in clear violation of federal anti-trust law.
For those of you who are doubtful, this is from the FTC’s homepage (and please, pay special attention to #3 of their mission statement):
“The Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Competition champions the rights of American consumers by promoting and protecting free and vigorous competition. The Bureau:
seeks out and challenges anticompetitive conduct in the marketplace, including monopolization and agreements between competitors”
Pure, unfettered capitalism does not exist as a matter of practice–anywhere. The United States has a legal and regulatory framework that is designed to protect against the worst kinds of abusive, monopolistic business practices. If what the Koreans are doing can’t be characterized as “anticompetitive conduct”, I don’t know what can.
Anyways, I think it wouldn’t be a terrible idea for these black beauty supply owners to organize themselves and bring this matter to the attention of the FTC for further investigation.
Umm, this may be true, guess the Chinese are exempt when they steal American patents.
btw- No where did I say I condone Korean practices. This ish has been going on for 20+ years strong. IDK, seems to me the FTC and the Chamber of Commerce are well aware what’s going on. This a billion dollar industry, just saying.
I hope Black bss retailers do organize to build strong economic coalitions in our neighborhoods. In fact, I hope a multitude of Black owned businesses are developed over the next few years. As someone else earlier posted, now is the time for Blacks to take back our prosperity.
Intellectual property law (patents), and anti-trust issues/monopolies/collusion are two entirely different legal balls of wax. Let’s not conflate things.
And nowhere did I say, nor mean to imply, that you personally CONDONED the behavior of the Koreans. I simply pushed back against your assertion that these people have the ABILITY to act with impunity in the name of capitalism.
And we have no idea what the FTC knows or doesn’t know. The agency is probably investigating hundreds, if not thousands, of complaints at any one time. It’s quite possible that this issue could be under their radar if it hasn’t very explicitly been brought to their attention.
Plus, as someone upthread mentioned, there may also be an element of outright systematic discrimination at play. If so, that could also be a matter for the Justice Department. I really can’t say, but I do know that this issue requires some untangling.
Look Deann, I think we basically agree that this issue is troubling and in need of remediation. I’m simply offering that black folks use all tools at their disposal–sure there’s an economic component, but let’s not discount possible legal remedies as well.
If I was them I would get a Korean friend and ask them to purchase for them. Also if you want you can learn the Korean language. You have to play the game. Have the supplies sent to a location other than the owners store.
A Korean friend will not break that bond with her race. They stick together like glue, no joke about it. As far as it being sent to another address, they are not selling to anybody! They are only selling at wholesale to a select few….their own kind.
I was just a thought. My hair and my daughters hair is natural. I have not stepped into a Beauty Supply shop in a long time.
Is this a race war? Dont these Koreans have families too? So what if ‘wigs’ arent ‘black’ owned. Majority of athletes are black, you dont see other races complaining and trying to take over. Even if these wigs become ‘black’ owned, so what??
We are all human. We need to stop these ‘race discussions’. They just continue to keep things frosty
Because these businesses are exploiting Black women by taking their money but refusing to work with them. They’re selling to a demographic that they discriminate against and have no respect for!
As for the “Black athlete” thing, that’s a whole other can of worms. Young Black children are often given the impression that the only ways to be successful are to become an athlete or get into the music industry. Anyone of any race, given enough talent, can become an athlete or musician. They are not excluded by race, unlike Black beauty stores. Two totally different arguments.
By the way, not discussing race won’t make racial issues disappear. They exist, whether or not we talk about it.
Tati,
black women are exploiting themselves by buying these wigs.
asians are merely using their resource to help black women exploit themselves.
they are not dumb. but, some of just don’t get it.
you are up in arms like somehow it’s your resource.
do you realize that even if they let you have some hair to sell, you’ll still be buying into THEIR product? you’ll still be giving them money because you have what they want. and, you cannot recreate what they have. lol. they have black women totally clowned on this front.
Well said….the bottom line is so long as we as black women depend on wigs and weaves, we will continue to give them our money directly or indirectly.
Are you fighting a race war…on behalf of koreans?
That you can defend descriminatory practises against blacks in an industry that makes it’s money off of exploiting your own people, is completely and utterly sickening.
I hope to god, the next time you apply for a job, a loan or have any business dealings with other races, that you get the same treatment that you’re so happy to support.
My thoughts exactly…..
x2
AMEN Deav! Poor Kyla missed the importance of this conversation completely. The point is that they are makig BIG BANK off the Black community but will not allow Black business owners that want to purchase hair and make money for their FAMILIES to get in on it. Hell, if it wasn’t for QUR community they would not be making as much money as they are so why BLACK BALL the Black business owners that want to in on the deals.
Thank you again! we can no longer pretend that race does not matter. Has anyone paid attention to the political ads put out by the GOP…its all about race. I swear I have had blinders on but the last four years have been a heartbreaking eyeopener on race
I was canvassing in New Hampshire Saturday for Obama/Biden and OMG race may not be an issue the poster wants to discuss but believe me race is everything and if you don’t start standing up for your own you will come face to face with it one day and the shock might kill you
@kyla, whenever I read comments such as yours, I always secretly hope that you are not black, because it would be a sad state of affairs to think that there are still black people thise deluded in this world. Talk about stockholm (sp) syndrome…..UGH…
Whenever I read comments like Kyla’s, I secretly think that they are a decendents of the race they are defending.
Well, I think many of us Black women have known this for years. The real problem is that WE wont stand up and do anything about this. Women are still buying hair from Koreans and are still going to their stores for their hair needs. Its a shame, because most of the beauty supply stores I have been to, treat their black customers with utter disrespect (camera’s everywhere, being followed around, having to pay to TRY a SAMPLE wig) Black women continue to accept this behavior ( maybe out of the feeling we have no choice) More black hair companies need to be started to help ease the product distribution problem. WHatever the solution, WE need to start thinking about them and start moving on this Billion dollar industry! Money is to be made…..Just my thoughts on the issue…
Hear hear! From what I can see over here in London, a lot of other communities benefiting from black hair and beauty supply are happy to take your money while looking at you with disdain at the same time. It is NOT acceptable for me to continually spend my good pound sterling on businesses that couldn’t really couldn’t give two hoots about its consumers. No. Change starts here.
Tell it girl, tell it!! I hate the fact that in my area there are no black owned beauty supply stores, there was one but it went out of business because they didn’t carry the mass supply of products that the Korean stores carry. I would even prefer to go to Sally’s but they don’t even carry the selection that these stores carry. Those people treat us like crap! they don’t put back into the community and they don’t even like black people. I think black people as a whole have to much of a laid back attitude and we don’t support each other! Two of our main problems!! long as we get what we want we are cool, don’t matter where it comes from or how we are exploited in the process!! I’m tired of it all, the Koreans and the Arabs who move into our communities, treat us like crap and still take our money!! This situation won’t change until we change!!
Yes, I must say I was quite suprised when, after moving to London, I found that most store that sell products for black hair are owned by Indian people. In France, Black people are the ones selling products for blakc hair. I’m not saying it’s a problem if other people do too, but it seems strange to me if no black people do.
But in England, you can buy Afrocenchix products, they’re made by a bunch of Black university student chicks who are really lovely!
There are a few black owned stores in London, there was one in my area. But guess what? they closed down. why? because they were not as busy as the Asian owned stores. I was one of a few who supported the business. It wasn’t enough to compete with all the other business though.
I do not have a problem with Asians, I think there’s a lot we can learn from them, but why oh why would anyone want to entertain someone who believes you are beneath them. Me personally i”ve stopped spending my money with a lot of them. Hit ’em where it hurts i say and lets be more self sufficient.
no.
black women need to stop buying weave and using it.
use your own hair, then you put people out of business.
they have black women punked because of our addiction to their hair.
yes, we love THEIR hair— enough to pay large sums of money.
all they’ve done is to secure and protect their resource.
if you don’t like the way koreans/asians do business when it comes to beauty supplies, stop buying from them.
dang.
it’s just so simple.
Thank you.
Don’t be mad Asian people hoard THEIR hair. If black women liked what grew out of their scalp, there wouldn’t be an issue.
Also, I know Nebby. He’s right on campus and a block from a natural hair salon. He’s fighting with Shea Moisture to carry their line, They want him to buy $5000 worth of product. His store isn’t that big. 🙁
Sounds like discrimination and perhaps should be addressed legally, on the local government, level.Black women need to stop depending on weaves to define their idea of beauty. We can close down these Korean run beauty supply stores, single handidly, if we stop spending our mighty “black” dollar there.
SO true!
Not discrimination, it’s the free market, it’s capitalism. Koreans found a niche and exploited it.
It’s not free market capitalism, it’s an exploitative monopolistic suppression of competition, that is racist and quite possibly illegal.
If this was been done to any other race of people, they’d be up in arms over it! Only blacks are like, meh…
Only blacks don’t seem to care when other people get rich stealing our home grown industries, cutting us out of the loop, and treating us like crap while doing it. Only blacks en masse defend these practises.
Every body else and their dog knows that communities are only as strong as their economic base. It’s the businesses in the community that can allow blacks to generate wealth, provide jobs/training, provide a cushion against recessions, and if really successful ultimately weald political power in this dog eat dog capitalist world.
One billionaire businessman has more say over the political process than a million black voters. These are the hard facts of living in a world run by money. But many black people don’t want to wake up and smell the roses and insist on thinking like children economically.
We seem to love being at the bottom of pile, clueless and despised. We’re complete and utter masochists.
Oh Deav you are so right brutal but so right. We let anyone just run over us and it seems as if many of us will take up for the people/industry or whomever who oppress us. Amazing.
Amen.
PREACH!
I agree with the part about Koreans finding a niche and exploiting, it’s capitalism. I admire their tenacity in succeeding in business especially those who are immigrants. However, I do think some of the practices like refusing to sell to certain people are wrong. From this report, it’s clear that the wig and weave industry is run by cartels who only let some people in. State or Local governments should definitely look into it.
It’s also strange that some natural hair brands refuse to have their products stocked in certain stores. It could be that the traditional beauty store now has a stigma as the place with “bad hair products”, they want nothing to do with it. It could also be a brand positioning issue, some brands such as Carol’s Daughter started by catering to African American women. But now the brand is marketed to everyone, I’ve even seen them on QVC and it has a certain upscale feel to it.
So maybe some of these companies want to only appear in stores like Sephora, or natural/ health stores or exclusive boutiques etc.
This dependence on wigs and weaves that some people have is also an issue! Just like relaxer sales have dipped because of people turning to natural hair, the same could happen with wigs and weaves if more women choose to only wear them only occasionally. Black women are some of the biggest customers, not just in the U.S. but globally! People can strategize on how to beat the Koreans at this game, but I think what could have the biggest impact is simply wearing our own hair more!
@ Deav
“Only blacks don’t seem to care when other people get rich stealing our home grown industries, cutting us out of the loop, and treating us like crap while doing it. Only blacks en masse defend these practises.”
You know, many of these businesses have been in operation for 20 years or more, many in Black Congressmen districts. This crap didn’t just happen over night. Black apathy has been effect for a long time. Words are wind. When Blacks get tired of being sick and tired, stop flapping our lips and begin to practice patience and prosperity then things will change. IDK, maybe it’s just me, but, I believe Korean’s were allowed to flourish not only by Black patronage, Black representatives gave their blessings as well.
@ Sue,
I believe weave and wigs may be on the decline as well, perhaps not as much as perm sales.
@deav
“Only blacks don’t seem to care when other people get rich stealing our home grown industries, cutting us out of the loop, and treating us like crap while doing it. Only blacks en masse defend these practises.”
how can weaves be a homegrown business when the hair is acquired from asians…you know the people who are controlling it?
it’s really their product and their natural “resource” in a way to do with and exploit as they may to me.
Exactly! I think people forget that it is Asian hair that we are using and they had sense enough to control the supply and profit. In fact, every culture is expolited by another group in one way or another, some of them just figured if they are going to come over here and take, we might as well control the export.
Easy solution stop wearing other people’s hair or take your $$ else where. We need to start valuing just how powerful our $$ really is and use it to our advantage. We have the power, stop waiting for someone else to step in and help out!
I’m so tired of people carelessly saying Koreans found a niche when their government colluded with th U.S. Government in the 1970s to pull a monopoly on wigs/weaves to keep out multiple countries.
me too
Deann, refusing to sell to certain people is not capitalism. That’s discrimination. If there’s an agreement to only sell to certain people, that’s also collusion and violates U.S. anti-trust laws.
Remember when whites refused to sell houses to blacks in certain neighborhoods and people thought that was just the “free market”? Turned out, that it was discrimination and now we have fair housing laws to address that. This is the same, except we already have antitrust laws on the books to address it.
If they’re refusing to sell to or do business with certain people based on race or national origin, it’s discrimination. Point blank period. It doesn’t matter if capitalism condones it — the well-known Heart of Atlanta motel case is instructive on this issue. If the BOBSA was doing it’s job, it’d help these black beauty salon and shop owners document these case and sue the bejesus out of those people. I
I’m so glad @shlbshl mentioned the FTC and collusion/antitrust/monopoly laws. People always want to carelessly pull the capitalism like it’s the wild, wild west.
So So true. When I lived on the East Coast there was a black owned store and a Korean owned store on the same block. I have locs and of course I patronized the black own store. It did however sold products for relaxed and weaved hair. But the owmer was struggling. He even went so far as to tell me that some blacks told him that the Koreans told their Black customers that they had a better product when in fact much of what both stores had were the same. Guess which store is out of business. Wake up black people!