A Woman Created an Online Hub with 100 Black-Owned Businesses—Here’s How to Shop It

While retailers are being asked to take the 15 Percent Pledge, Memphis’s Cynthia Daniels, chief event strategist at Cynthia Daniels & Co., “a full-service event planning and design company, servicing the midsouth region,” has pulled together a virtual Black-owned business hub in celebration of Juneteenth.

Juneteenth, which takes place on June 19, is the holiday that celebrates the end of slavery in the United States. Yet, nationwide protests in response to the unjust killings of unarmed Black Americans, including George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, show that there is still much ground to cover on the path to racial equality.

So, to show support for her fellow Black business owners and encourage people to shop Black brands, Daniels is launching a virtual shopping experience during which online shoppers can access to 100 Black-owned businesses all in one place—which Daniels has dubbed Juneteenth Shop Black.

From 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. CDT on June 19, Daniels will turn her website into a Black business marketplace. She came up with the idea on Mother’s Day weekend, as she told House Beautiful.

“I couldn’t be home for Mother’s Day, so I wanted to be very intentional in sending my mother some things from my favorite Black-owned businesses,” Daniels said. “And I realized that a lot of people had never heard of these places.” 

After posting some of her favorite brands on Instagram and realizing her followers wanted more, Daniels decided to host an entire Black-centric shopping event. The initial idea was to spotlight 50 local Memphis-based businesses. But the application process brought in hundreds of interesting and unique Black-owned brands.

Juneteenth Shop Black will feature 100 businesses (50 from Memphis, and 50 from elsewhere in the U.S.) that offer a wide array of products from fashion items to home goods, kids’ things to bath and beauty, food, wine, art, and more.

You can check out some of the featured shops that will be available on the hub over at the Juneteenth Shop Black Instagram.

The marketplace goes live at 12 p.m. CDT on June 19. Show your support for the Black community and get your shop on. If you can’t attend this year, don’t worry—Daniels plans to make Juneteenth Shop Black an annual event.