Overview:
Hy-Vee’s Robbinsdale store celebrated Black Business Month by spotlighting Black women entrepreneurs, giving customers the chance to sample products and meet the creators behind them.
Hy-Vee stages showcase during Black Business Month
A trio of Black businesswomen got a boost on a recent summer Saturday, getting in front of grocery store customers at the Robbinsdale Hy-Vee.
“It’s super exciting to have this platform, an amazing opportunity,” said Sylvia Williams, co-owner of Soul Grain granola. “We can inspire the young girl or young boy when they see us and our dreams coming true right here.”
To mark Black Business Month in August, Hy-Vee not only highlighted their products but also invited the Black entrepreneurs who created them the chance to offer samples and chat up the customers.
Hy-Vee shopper Leticia Selmon was excited to be introduced to the business owners and intrigued by the range of their personal care and food items available through the Black Business Showcase.
“It means a lot. Representation,” Selmon said. “You want to know that beauty products, food products, are coming from people like you, that people from your community were the creators. It’s huge to celebrate them getting into Hy-Vee.”
The showcase event gave business founder De’Vonna Pittman the chance to connect with shoppers interested in learning more about her Nature’s Syrup line of skin and hair care products.
“To be here in Hy-Vee is something we prayed for, hoped for, worked really hard for,” Pittman said. “I have two whole shelves in the hair care aisle. Hy-Vee had that space for us. Being here with other female-owned Black businesses means that people see us and know we can create and bring incredible products to the table.”
Some customers were already familiar with the authentic Island cuisine served at Nadia’s Jamaican Kitchen in Brooklyn Park. Now they could put bottles of the signature Jamaican sauces in their carts and hear Nadia Wotrang’s entrepreneurial success story as they sample her tangy products.
“To start my business, I literally sold my house and used the money,” Wotrang said. “I knew my dream, what I wanted to do. I was like, if not now, when? To make a long story short, we now feed Major League Baseball teams! Look at that. Look at God. Amen.”
For Hy-Vee, the showcase focusing on local Black businesses made good business sense. “Our customers are meeting the entrepreneurs so they can hear about their products and their great stories,” said Robbinsdale Hy-Vee Store Manager Joe Lowe.
“They feel good about supporting and enriching vendors who live here. They want to buy local. It keeps the money circulating and it helps our community grow and just get better.”
Sheletta Brundidge is a children’s author, an Emmy Award-winning comedian, and a local activist. She is also a contributing writer for the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder. For more information, visit www.shelettamakesmelaugh.com.