by
BGLH
https://youtu.be/jYLTcgfqA54
This past November, activist groups took to Korean-owned beauty supply stores in Lancaster, TX to divert black customers from spending their dollars in non-black-owned businesses. The platform was “Redistribute the Pain” which seeks to make a statement by redistributing the value of black dollars.
Instead of just blocking customers from making their sought after beauty buys, the protestors handed out fliers and directed them to nearby black-owned suppliers.
While it’s no secret that relations between Korean-owned beauty supply stores and it’s primarily black consumer base have been strained over the years, some question if this is the right approach. Black women are working hard to stake their claim in an industry they’ve built over decades with their own dollars. Serena Williams has even invested in a company which aims to compete.
What are your thoughts? Share them in the comments below.
15 Responses
One problem, though, is that they’re still the ones making the products, so even if the businesses get money, the Koreans, Chinese, etc. still get their cut.
Where I used to live, though, it was mostly Middle Eastern folks owning the stores. Never a black person.
You know what? We need to start manufacturing in black countries in Africa and the Caribbean. That way, these products can be mass produced cheaply FOR US BY US!
Agreed!
Even in the Caribbean BBS is owned by south asians. :/
Not one BBS on the island I reside is owned by a Black person. Its upsetting.
First and last time I went to a Korean store was around 1998, and it was my last. Never shopped with them as I was treated horribly and I wondered why so many of us gave our money to people that criminalized us. I shop black owned as much as possible. These days shopping online has given me better access to black businesses, and I don’t even bother going to the store for my hair care needs. By pass the middle man altogether. I guess Texas is learning because they get sick of other people calling them the N word all the time.
I agree. In stead I just go and look in the organic section of the grocery store and get natural products. I wish there were more black owned stores
Well I’m not mad at you. Since my other post I had to drive To a neighboring town for work and stopped by a black owned beauty supply I had seen but never gone in. It was the same story. Stocked full of hair and exactly one natural hair line. Omg we don’t all wear weave and wigs. I asked about natural products and clerk looked at me all lost. The way I see this should be a two way street. The community supports the black businesses and the businesses support blacks in community. The message I get is they want to sell us fake hair and other race’s hair but when it comes to our own natural black kinks they are not about all that. Now if 80% – 90% of your inventory is hair then I ask how many of those hair companies are black owned? Hardly any. Yet how many natural hair companies are black owned? Plenty. There are so many small brands that are trying to grow. Obia. lace Naturals. Alikay. Yet you can only make shelf space and then have the nerve to complain about support for black businesses. Pah-lease. I don’t believe Asian monopolies are keeping Shea Moisture off your shelf. The Asian and Arab stores I have been in have a lot of natural hair products. And when I haves asked about a product line they don’t have they actually write it down to check into it. What is the difference in me going to a Korean Store and buying my beloved Jane Carter and going in a black bss and buying weave from an Asian manufacturer? None. I’m not saying anything is wrong with selling hair but these black bss I see in my area are not supporting all of us so I don’t feel guilty that about not all of us supporting them and spending my money at Sally’s. Don’t care who is offended. Shame I can by poo bars from Lakeisha at Bobeam on Curlmart but sister can’t get nowhere in the black bss. If you do not support your own don’t be mad if your own do support you.
Very good points. Even the smallest black-owned BSS should have black-owned product lines (natural and otherwise) falling off their shelves.
However, I can see them saying what a lot of black customers say: Natural hair products are too expensive. Also, depending on the location, how many customers are actually looking for those products versus weave/wig?
I agree that it’s a two-way street but despite all the numbers showing the drop in relaxer sales and salon patronage, I’m betting these stores’ customer base — the ones they make the most money from — ISN’T you and me. It’s a vicious cycle: We don’t come in because they don’t have what we want; they don’t have what we want because we don’t come in.
Which gets back to my point (which I fully admit is a fantasy because that horse left the barn before our great-grandmothers were born): I want more black women to celebrate and feel beautiful in their OWN hair as opposed to someone else’s…and I want enough of them to visit only those BSS that support them by providing a comprehensive array of products and tools that cater to THEIR needs. And if any BSS should be doing that, it should be the black-owned BSS.
(Sigh) true. I understand but I still feel it’s a slap in the face. As I remember Walgreens upped their product game and when Target, Walmart, Ulta and Sally’s saw WG store were making money they followed suit. I don’t know about other areas but my Walmart has As I Am, Miss Jessie’s, Cantu among others. They wouldn’t stock it if people weren’t buying it. Alas I guess I will keep buying my products on line, health food stores and white corporations. I will go go black bss when I want to buy my cousins some barrettes.
My experience, past and present, is very similar to Cosita’s. Whenever I’ve found a black-owned BSS I always bought a token something just to help out but they almost never had anything I wanted.
In my current city I’ve been to two BSS that have Arabs behind the counter (I don’t know if they own the businesses though; next time I’ll ask) and they have been very friendly and helpful. I’ve also been to one of the largest Korean-owned BSS in town and was treated like a criminal. Sally’s, Target, and various Amazon sellers get the vast majority of my hair product/tool business…and since I don’t wear weave/wig and I don’t really do anything other than WNGs these days, there’s not a lot of my business to be had.
I’m probably going to offend some people by saying this but I don’t care:
If black women ever let go of their addiction to/fetishizing of hair — specifically other folks’ hair because that’s what I’m seeing the most of on these streets and in these stores — and stopped going to BSS in such large numbers, I guarantee you the Korean trade would dry up. We can sit up here and talk about monopolies if we want to but bottom line? They can’t make money without US. And they are just the latest in a very long line of ethnic groups who have come into black communities, taken our money, and used that money to send THEIR kids to college.
And the thing is…I ain’t even mad at ’em. This is America and we should ALL know by this point that it’s all about the dollar, which is why I think loud public boycotts like the one in the video are a little extra. What I’m mad at is black folks who whine and complain like we don’t have a CHOICE in the matter…when we DO. In my fantasy, black women simply stop going to non-black-owned BSS, creating an opening for black-owned BSS owners to work with distributors: “You want to stay in business? You need to concede to our demands.” The Montgomery bus boycott lasted a little over a year…this is just HAIR we’re talking about here…
I recommend that people watch all 3 (or is it 4?) videos about this boycott. The black owner stated her case: it was an uphill battle to build her business and the Korean suppliers make it damn near a futile effort for her business to flourish. I am all for competition but the Korean monopoly on black BSS is down-right racist to the core. If it was a healthy business environment and capitalism was allowed to run its course, the Korean suppliers wouldn’t mind supplying black BSS (they still will make money). But the suppliers go out of their way to undermine and practically destroy black entrepreneurship when it comes to black/African hair. That is not right and last time I checked, monopolies are illegal in this country. The black owner in the video was very grateful for the support and gave out hair “goody bags” at the center. Some of the attendees said that sister was extremely professional and knowledgable about hair and scalp care.
In my old neighborhood in Brooklyn, in a 2 block radius – there are 8 Korean BSS! I KID YOU GUYS NOT! Like seriously, there are more BSS than grocery stores and libraries. That is a problem. Yes, blacks need to seriously stop patronizing these businesses but clearly the Korean suppliers come with $$$$$$$$$$ to basically crowd out all the other businesses.
Anyways I am glad for this boycott. I used to go to this one Korean BSS years ago and I was a good customer until the owner thought I was a thief (all b/c I was reading the ingredient list on a jar of grease and my eyes met his). He got his black security guard to basically follow me down the aisle. I was done! This was over 10 years ago.
Kudos to the NOI for putting fire under these mofos.
You know what, I want to support black business I really do, I’m a fledgling black business owner myself. I want to support black business as much as I can, but from a customer’s perspective, black business needs to be just as competitve as other business. That means they need to have good or better customer service, they need to have good or better stock at competitive prices.
I like this movement. I also need the black business to step up their game too.
My first thought is they should find out why the customers are not shopping at the black owned instead of simply directing them there. It may or may not be a matter of them not being aware a business exists. I went into a new bss last week that was black owned. I bought nothing. Why? Because 80% to 90% of the inventory was hair which I don’t wear weave or braid extentions. Much of the rest is relaxers and relaxed type products. There were some rollers but I already have plenty. The natural product selection was one brand which most of it my hair doesn’t like and Ecostyler but it was a tiny container and not worth me buying when I have a ton of hair. I asked the clerk about some activator gel I saw and she said she knew nothing about it other than it’s for people with “good hair”. This is not isolated. I have been to about four black owned beauty supply stores where the selection for loose naturals is pityful. Not even some damn Cantu. How can I patronize you when I struggle to find something to buy? I honestly feel like these stores I have been to do not see me as their target client. Sometimes they seem bothered when I ask questions about products. Shouldn’t a business person be familiar with what they sell? Even clerks on these stores admit the lack. On the other hand Koreans will have all kinds of stuff and seem to follow whoch are the new brands. I don’t mind paying more but you HAVE to have a good selection. I rarely shop at Korean store even though they are better in selection. Most of my money for anything I don’t make or order goes to Sally’s and Target. Yes black customers need to support but black owners need to be on their game.
One of the reasons that many BOB are not well stocked or pricier is because they are charged more because many of the product still comes from Asians countries–ie China. So many manufacturers will charged more to BOB vs. Asian owned business, especially if the BOB cannot afford to buy in larger bulk to recieve the much needed discounted bulk rate.
My friend learned this the hard way when she tried to start a wig selling business. And I’ve heard of this issue from other black owned hair businesses. Black owned businesses just have a lot more hurdles to jump over compared to others.
About damn time! This is the truly the BEST way to build black wealth. Black dollars need to be invested and recirculated in the black community in order for us to make progress.
Build our own!