Buy, Build, Support: Shop Black Friday event continues for Sacramento’s Black-owned businesses
The Black Friday Coalition will continue to host their fourth annual: Shop Black Friday event at Florin Square.
The event began on Friday and will continue Saturday. Shop Black Friday will start at noon and shopping will last until 6 p.m. at 2251 Florin Road. Consumers and business owners are encouraged to practice social distancing, masks are required, and there will be sanitation options available.
The Black Friday Coalition is made up of three ambitious entrepreneurs: Berry Accius, Dana Maeshia, and Ayesha Ransom-White, who came together because they wanted to create an alternative option for Black business owners to compete with major retailers.
Sacramento county returned back to the purple tier, the most restrictive tier reserved for counties with more than seven COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents or more than 8% test results reported positive in the last seven days. In the purple tier, businesses indoor activities are supposed to operate at maximum 25% capacity.
“Walmart is open. Target is open. Best Buy is open. The malls are open. All of these stores, Costco is open. Until those stores shut down, our businesses can’t shut down ... this is our economic justice,” said Berry Accius, on why it was important to continue to host the event despite purple tier restrictions.
The Black Friday Coalition wanted an opportunity where the community could empower Black owners to build and support one another. Vendors are selling a variety of goods including books, apparel, food, wellness, jewelry, accessories, and more.
“We’re our own solution. We’re our own empowerment. We show folks, ‘this is how you do it’. We have entrepreneurs all over the place. A hundred entrepreneurs in one day saying ‘Build Black’ and empowering our community which is a powerful thing altogether,” Accius said.
Networking Opportunity for Black Business Owners
The fourth annual Shop Black Friday in Sacramento includes 50 small businesses and vendors all offering Black Friday sales.
Michelle Seals is an independent executive consultant for Sprinkled With a Twist, a candle and scent retailer. Seals, a first time vendor at Florin Square, told The Sacramento Bee that she first heard about the opportunity through other owners who hold booths there.
“We are intentionally circulating the Black dollar, on purpose. Any other year, I would’ve been out in front of Walmart, or in front of Target. But, where am I? I’m setting up to serve my people and my community, I love it,” said Seals, a first time vendor at Florin Square.
Calasga Wellness owner DeAngela Thurman is another first time vendor who capitalized on the Shop Black Friday opportunity. Thurman expressed gratitude for Florin Square as a space for her to conduct business in the Sacramento area.
“This is Calasga Wellness coming out event and so far, so good,” Thurman said. “It’s inspirational to see so many people like me who want to be business owners, who want to be entrepreneurs, who want to give back to their community and be part of their community. This day, it’s very important.”
For startups such as Sprinkled with a Twist or Calasga Wellness, Florin Square marketplace has served as a starting point for their business.
Returning business owners like Kelly Sonnirea, founder of Kelly Korn popcorn, have felt the effect and saw her business grow from Shop Black Friday.
Sonnirea has been a part of three Shop Black Friday events. She suggested small Black owned businesses to reach out regarding their business and products they sell.
“I just think it’s a great opportunity for small businesses to come together with other entrepreneurs and like minded people to show off their products and what you have to sell,” Sonnirea said.