Following the announcement of a year-long partnership in March 2021, H&M presented the Buy From a Black Woman Inspire Tour across multiple cities in the U.S. this July. H&M’s support will help to highlight Black female entrepreneurs and business owners. It will further assist the nonprofit’s mission of empowering, educating and inspiring Black women and the people who support them.
Nikki Porcher founded the non-profit organization Buy From a Black Woman in 2016. It connects nearly 600 Black Women-owned businesses across the United States. Buy From a Black Women provides business owners with a community of support that helps them flourish.
Giving a platform to Black female entrepreneurs
The Buy From a Black Woman Inspire Tour is a series of pop-up shopping events across 15 U.S. cities. It aims to highlight local Black Women-owned businesses. It will also provide them with options in a world that limits their voices. Events in Atlanta, Washington D.C., New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles will be hosted in H&M stores. Customers will have the opportunity to meet with and shop from local vendors. A variety of businesses will be featured, ranging from skincare, stationery, home accessories and more. Many of those featured support additional causes, standing true to Buy From A Black Woman’s motto: “When you support a Black Woman Business Owner, you support a whole community.”
“In 2021 we are still hearing the phrase ‘the first Black Woman to…’, yet people far and wide look and see Black Women as a source of inspiration. From our looks to the way we run a business and a household simultaneously, Black Women are and have been living examples. We so often hear the phrase that Black Girls and Black Women are magic, but the thing about magic is, it’s all around. Black Women are all around. We are you sisters, your mothers, your aunties, your daughters. We are your teachers, your leaders, your motivators, your trend setters. Black Women continue to shape and shift so many things and it is our hope that this year’s Buy From A Black Woman Inspire Tour serves as a public reminder that: Black Women are here,” says Nikki Porcher, Founder of Buy From a Black Woman.
Help an entrepreneur, help a community
Black Women have been starting businesses at an increasing rate. Even so, annual sales for Black Women business owners are five times smaller than all women-owned businesses. This is due to lack of support and awareness. H&M USA wants to use its platform to support economic participation and growth. The company believes that when Black Women and their businesses flourish, communities thrive.
“H&M is thrilled to present the Buy From a Black Woman ‘Inspire Tour’ this July,” says Donna Dozier Gordon, Head of Inclusion and Diversity for H&M USA. “We’re working to rally around the communities of which we’re a part across the country. Amplifying the voices of Black Women and supporting the growth of Black-owned businesses is one way we’re doing that.”
The tour kicked off on July 1, 2021 in Atlanta, GA. On that day, there was a free open-air market next to H&M’s Atlantic Station store, featuring 10 local vendors. The tour will continue to travel across the country, concluding with an in-store event in Los Angeles on July 25. See here for a complete list of cities included on the Inspire Tour.
Check out more initiatives meant to help Black female entrepreneurs.
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