After a year of the pandemic, the retail industry is counting on shoppers to spend this holiday.
Black business owners have seen swings in 2020, from zero revenue to unsustainable demand. The next three months will prove whether shopping has changed for the better.
A majority of Americans find it important to support Black-owned businesses, and 61% of Black shoppers said they're more likely to make a conscious effort to shop at Black-owned stores. Black-owned businesses numbered 124,004 in the Census Bureau’s latest Annual Business Survey.
Not for Courtney Grasty. The 34-year-old from Frederick, Md., has only Black-owned businesses on her Christmas shopping list. She’s compiled a spreadsheet of 600 clothing and footwear brands and shares links with family members and friends, suggesting businesses to buy from.
Dee Marshall, a diversity and inclusion adviser to the Black Women’s Roundtable, expects lasting impact on Black Americans’ economic life from corporate commitments to hire Black employees and support Black ventures.
“Black folks are watching,” she says. “They’ll be watching this time next year to see what happened since you said Black Lives Matter. The conversation is beyond holiday shopping and buying Black. It’s about economic injustice.”
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