Seattle Culture
Black Black Friday launches in Seattle
The event is designed to boost Black-owned businesses
By Rob Smith November 22, 2023
An initiative launched in Seattle encourages residents to spend money at Black-owned businesses, starting on Black Friday.
Called Black Black Friday, the movement was organized by Laura Clise, founder and CEO of the Intentionalist, an online directory of thousands of small businesses owned by women, people of color, veterans, LBGTQ+, families, and differently abled people, and executives from Seattle creative agency DNA, one of the few Black and LGBTQ+ owned businesses in the United States. Clise was one of Seattle magazine’s Most Influential people in 2020.
The website lists more than 100 Black-owned businesses and is seeking more. Advisers on the initiative included Dee Alams of City Sweats, Marquita Evans of Intentions Juice And Smoothie Bar, Efrem Fesaha from Boon Boona Coffee, Metier Brewing’s Rodney Hines, and Monika Mathews from QueenCare.
The site says Black Black Friday was created for several reasons, including that Black-owned businesses are five times as likely to close, and that while 7.9% of Seattle’s population is Black, fewer than 1% of businesses in the city are Black-owned.
“That’s why we created Black Black Friday,” the site says. “(It) is a movement meant to empower Seattle’s Black-owned businesses by bringing the entire community on board.”
Shoppers can buy a Black Black Friday Card they can use at Black-owned businesses year-round. Nationwide, the National Retail Federation says more than 182 million people plan to shop on Black Friday.
Businesses that want to register can find more information here.
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