Bishop J. Richard Evans Sr., left, and his wife, Pastor Tenisia Evans, in front of his new store, “The Look,” in Clinton Township. Charity Dean, right picture, president and CEO of Metro-Detroit Black Business Alliance, helps Black-owned businesses find their footing.
Black businesses are showing no signs of slowing down just yet.
In fact, some states have seen an uptick in registered businesses double according to a New York Times analysis.
According to an article from the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), shortly after the CARES Act was passed by Congress in March 2020, business registrations increased by 60 percent. This comes at a cost, however, because the pandemic-related economic hardships are “likely to damage entrepreneurship and put many small businesses in a financial hole” the article stated, adding that “there are signs that many have turned to creating businesses after losing employment elsewhere.”
That concept is not lost on Charity Dean, president and CEO of Metro-Detroit Black Business Alliance (MDBBA).
The MDBBA was unveiled in March earlier this year with the COVID-19 pandemic still raging in Southeast Michigan (and the rest of the world) with, then, seemingly no resolution. Black, and often small, businesses in Wayne, Macomb and Oakland counties faced storms even before the pandemic.
The MDBBA came on the scene to boost Black-owned businesses and champion their causes.
“We are a Black chamber of commerce,” Dean told The Michigan Chronicle recently.
Dean added that there is now a lot more resources and support aligned where there is more opportunity for Black businesses to shine because before inequities existed with access to capital.
Dean added that “it is not necessarily a surprise” that Black people are on their grind and pivoting and launching businesses at a high speed.
“Black people hustle, it’s what we do,” she said. “We’ve always done it even in a pandemic … it is in our system. It’s not new for Black people and not new for Black entrepreneurs… it is not surprising to me that there is a surge or increase in Black businesses.”
This boom in business is not isolated to southeast Michigan. According to the NNPA article, Google Trends data reported an “uptick in searches related to Black-owned businesses” in June of last year. Per Google Trends data, searches for “How to find Black-owned businesses in your area” had a 300 percent increase and searches for “Black-owned restaurants near me” tripled.
The article added that numerous people think that these searches were spurred by the activism after the murder of George Floyd in addition to the pandemic and led many toward economic activism and supporting Black-owned businesses.
Dean said that Black business owners and entrepreneurs show “resilience” and ingenuity when it comes to amassing wealth.
“In the Black community, the increase of new businesses is just another way that Black people and Black families are saying, ‘We’re not going to wait for someone to save us. But we’re going to be self-determined to create that generational wealth for ourselves and our families.’”
Bishop J. Richard Evans Sr., founder and senior pastor of Divine Restoration Ministries in Detroit, is one of those people.
Evans told The Michigan Chronicle that in June he opened clothing and shoe store The Look inside The Mall at Partridge Creek in Clinton Township as part of a plan to expand in the Macomb County area and meet customer demand.
“Customers’ weight fluctuates between 10 to 20 pounds on average, and after quarantine there would be a need for new clothes,” Evans, who owns multiple stores along with his wife Tenisia Evans, said. “In addition to that, I believe that we must create jobs to help the economy.”
“[My wife] Lady Evans and I have a beauty salon/ boutique on the east side of Detroit, GirlBoss Fashions in downtown Detroit, Macomb Mall, Lakeside Mall, Partridge Creek Mall and The Look Clothing Company in Lakeside Mall and Partridge Creek Mall. We also have both commercial and residential real estate, along with various other business ventures,” he said, adding that wealth begins at home. “I would encourage my African American brothers and sisters to network and support each other. When I was planning to open the first men’s store, I consulted with other African American retailers who helped me make connections within the clothing industry, and as a result I saved time and resources that I then used in other areas. When we support Black businesses, we strengthen Black families who in turn, strengthen the Black community.”
Jeffrey Gisstennar, 55, owner of Good Cookies in Detroit, opened his tasty establishment in late June. He told The Michigan Chronicle that his business concept, thought of in 2013, started out of his kitchen home.
“I am a real estate broker,” Gisstennar said, adding that he was, and still is, in this fluctuating market, and around 2010 things were a bit unpredictable after the 2008 housing crisis.
“In 2010 around that time … I would bake to relax and let off steam and my wife would take cookies to work for people to try and people would love them,” he said, adding that his business took off from there.
He added that purchasing a building was “never a thought in my head” but he wound up buying one for his business at 19007 W McNichols Road.
“[I] purchased in the neighborhood I grew up [in],” Gisstennar said, adding that it’s a community that is “sound and stable.”
He added that “it’s such an honor” when older people come in and tell him that his cookies remind him of their mother’s cookies.
“It blows me away — it’s a real compliment when they come because I use real ingredients, real butter, real good vanilla and sugar,” he said. “I try to use the best stuff.”
About Post Author
