Downtown Partnership’s BOOST program continues to expand. The program, which stands for Black-Owned-and-Operated Storefront Tenancy, is an incubator program that gives Black entrepreneurs a leg-up for their business and allow them to expand their customer base. “What we’re talking about today with our BOOST program is re-imagining Downtown, bringing Black and brown business into Downtown, and filling out vacant storefronts,” said Shelonda Stokes, president of the Downtown Partnership. “That’s what BOOST is about.”Elle Odoi and Yvette Pappoe are sisters who immigrated to the United States from Ghana. They are owners of a luxury interior design firm. They opened their first retail storefront on North Howard Street: the dede. shop. It was a dream five years in the making, and it culminated on Thursday.”Downtown Partnership gave us the space to bring this vision to light,” Pappoe said. “When we heard about the BOOST program, I called her in the middle of the night and said, ‘We need to apply for this. This will give us the opportunity to make it a reality.'”At dede. shop, you’ll find furniture, limited collections of pottery and décor, and sustainably-made candles, each infused with a signature scent the pair developed.Odoi designed everything, including the marble wall in the bathroom”I had a vision of what I wanted everything to look like,” Odoi said. “I’m very specific about what I bring to the market. Some of these pieces are one of one, they will never come back. I will never re-design it, but we want that luxury boutique feeling.”BOOST gave them considerable resources.”They get $100,000. We get them through a training curriculum,” Stokes said.BOOST helped them build out the space and gave them marketing and legal support. The storefront helps to breathe new life into the once bustling shopping district on Howard Street.
Downtown Partnership’s BOOST program continues to expand.
The program, which stands for Black-Owned-and-Operated Storefront Tenancy, is an incubator program that gives Black entrepreneurs a leg-up for their business and allow them to expand their customer base.
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“What we’re talking about today with our BOOST program is re-imagining Downtown, bringing Black and brown business into Downtown, and filling out vacant storefronts,” said Shelonda Stokes, president of the Downtown Partnership. “That’s what BOOST is about.”
Elle Odoi and Yvette Pappoe are sisters who immigrated to the United States from Ghana. They are owners of a luxury interior design firm. They opened their first retail storefront on North Howard Street: the dede. shop. It was a dream five years in the making, and it culminated on Thursday.
“Downtown Partnership gave us the space to bring this vision to light,” Pappoe said. “When we heard about the BOOST program, I called her in the middle of the night and said, ‘We need to apply for this. This will give us the opportunity to make it a reality.'”
At dede. shop, you’ll find furniture, limited collections of pottery and décor, and sustainably-made candles, each infused with a signature scent the pair developed.
Odoi designed everything, including the marble wall in the bathroom
“I had a vision of what I wanted everything to look like,” Odoi said. “I’m very specific about what I bring to the market. Some of these pieces are one of one, they will never come back. I will never re-design it, but we want that luxury boutique feeling.”
BOOST gave them considerable resources.
“They get $100,000. We get them through a training curriculum,” Stokes said.
BOOST helped them build out the space and gave them marketing and legal support. The storefront helps to breathe new life into the once bustling shopping district on Howard Street.
