TAMIKA SCALES HAD PLENTY OF CUSTOMERS FOR HER BUSINESS, “YAYA UNIQUE.” (PHOTO BY J.L. MARTELLO)
Ask any of the small Black business owners who took part in the “Black Market” in Market Square over the past few weeks, and they’ll tell you, it was an Andrew McCutchen home run.
Maybe even a Willie Stargell or Dave Parker grand slam.
Each year during the holiday season, Pittsburgh’s Market Square is packed with small businesses selling pretty much everything, and there are tens of thousands of people who brave the cold temperatures to purchase the goods. It’s named the “Peoples Gas Holiday Market,” but inside the “Holiday Market” was the “Black Market,” held for the first time entirely in Market Square under a heated white tent, giving people of all ethnicities the perfect chance to walk in and support the 20 or so Black businesses.
FELICIA LANGFORD, OF THE NORTH SIDE, AND HER SON, WAMO RADIO’S MIKE DEAN, CHECK OUT BRACELETS FROM CANDISE RICE’S “SHELOVES COLLECTION.” (PHOTO BY ROB TAYLOR JR.)
“It has been an amazing experience,” said an excited Stacey Sherer, owner of S & S Chocolatz, LLC. “Pittsburgh has really come out and supported not just myself, but all the vendors down here, and I will definitely do it again next year.”
The roughly 20 businesses were broken up into two groups—one group was in the tent from Dec. 5-8, and the other group was in the tent from Dec. 12-15. Sherer and her husband, Todd, were busy selling their varieties of sweet treats for the people from Dec. 12-15. It was the Sherers’ fifth year as part of the Black Market, which was founded by Shayla Hawkins in 2020. This year, the Black Market was presented by Hawkins and BNY.
MASON RICE, WITH HIS MOTHER, CANDISE RICE. (PHOTO BY ROB TAYLOR JR.)
Black-owned businesses are getting more and more exposure Downtown lately. Not only has Hawkins’ idea of the Black Market turned out to be a transformative one, but The Pitt Building, on Smithfield Street, Downtown, has been turned into a Black business hub, thanks to people like Khamil Bailey. Bailey and her team purchased the entire building just in time for 2024, and they have since added a Black business tenant, PAIR Charcuterie, with a storefront on the corner of Smithfield and the Boulevard of the Allies. More Black-owned businesses are coming, as the building is now known as “The Greenwood Building.”
CYNTHIA ENGLISH AND ROBYN GREER. (PHOTO BY ROB TAYLOR JR.)
During William B. Marshall’s Juneteenth and Soul Food festivals in Downtown Pittsburgh, Black businesses get a chance to shine, too. There are upwards of 50 Black businesses that get a chance to sell their products and make connections with customers and other business owners in mid-June and the Labor Day Weekend.
SOMMAR THEODORE. HER BUSINESS IS CALLED, “JESUS BE KNOWIN.”(PHOTO BY J.L. MARTELLO)
Across America, there were 161,031 Black-owned businesses in 2021, according to the Pew Research Center. Sounds like a lot, until one realizes that it’s just three percent of all businesses in the country. African Americans, meanwhile, comprise 13 percent of the country.
Supporting Black businesses can do nothing but help the economy, numerous experts say. For people like Pittsburgh North Siders Felicia Langford and Cynthia English, supporting Black-owned businesses is what they do.
TODD AND STACEY SHERER. THEIR BUSINESS IS, “S & S CHOCOLATZ, LLC”
“I’ve come every year for the last five years,” Langford told the Courier while she shopped at Sheloves Collection, looking at the color stone bracelets. She said she enjoys seeing the different products the businesses have to offer, calling the business owners “very talented.”
English, who taught at Manchester Elementary School for decades, actually purchased some items from one of her former students, Robyn Greer, owner of “The Bloom Brand” all natural and organic hair and skin care. “It’s essential that we support our own and that’s what I wanted to do today,” English told the Courier, Dec. 15. “I want to be a part of the African American market, as they sell all their goods for the holiday season.”
EDDIE AND GLORIA HARGRO. THEIR BUSINESS IS, “GOSPEL PEARLS.”
Some of the other Black-owned businesses part of the Black Market included “Yaya Unique” by Tamika Scales, “Gospel Pearls” by Gloria Hargro, “Lady D’s Treasures” by Leisa Washington, “Jesus Be Knowin” clothing line by Sommar Theodore, “Body Butter by Beauty” by Chantai Howard, “Stovetop Candle Co.” by Ore Ritenour, “EighTea Herbals” by Tyler Bowe, “Custom Cutees” by Erin Johnson, and “Vallee The Brand” by Dale Jones.
ED HARGRO FROM MORGANTOWN, W.VA., BUYING BODY BUTTER.
Thirteen-year-old Mason Rice was helping his mother, Candise Rice, sell some of her handmade beaded bracelets and engraved charms at the Sheloves Collection table. It seemed to be a hit with the women customers.
“It’s amazing,” Candise Rice told the Courier about the four days she was Downtown, as part of the Dec. 12-15 group. “It’s definitely given me the opportunity to network and engage with a different community. It’s been well worth it.”
CARMEN, GABRIELLE AND ANAHELENA BUYING CANDLES FROM “STOVETOP CANDLE CO.”
STEFFANIE JASPER, DENISE SMALLEY AND GEOVETTE WASHINGTON WITH PRODUCTS THEY BOUGHT FROM THE “24 CARROTS” DRINK COMPANY.
VALDA BRAZIEL AND DAWN JOHNSON FROM PENN HILLS BUYING BOWTIES. (PHOTOS BY J.L. MARTELLO)
ORE RITENOUR. HER BUSINESS IS CALLED, “STOVETOP CANDLE CO.”
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