Brownsville, NY residents Jeffrey and Sade have opened up the first Black-owned beauty store in Brownsville, Jeffrey Beauty Supply, and yes, it is a big deal! The pair met through the Brownsville Partnership, a program focused on economic, community development.
After realizing that the only stores selling Black hair products in their surrounding areas were only found in major pharmacies such like Rite Aid, the entrepreneurial pair set out to open their own store, and made it happen! Despite people of color spending billions of dollars a year on beauty supplies, Black ownership in the industry is still shockingly low. To put it in perspective, African-American women alone spend $7.5 billion a year on beauty products!
“There’s a lot of money being spent by African Americans in this industry, especially women, and there’s just not as much representation in ownership,” Said Sade in her interview with BKReader, “So we wanted to take that challenge head on and start the tidal wave.”
You can read the full interview with Jeffrey and Sade over at BKReader.com, and you can also check out their website jeffreybeautysupply.com.
