CHERRY HILL, N.J. (KYW Newsradio) — August is National Black Business Month, meant to bring awareness to the owners who make up only about 10% of businesses nationwide.
Two South Jersey business owners are hoping to help other Black entrepreneurs by hosting a showcase at the Cherry Hill Mall.
Nika and Alban Corbett set out to highlight Black and brown businesses during the pandemic by creating a subscription box earlier this year.
“We would send four to six Black-owned products to different subscribers every single month," said Nika Corbett. "It was still called the Black-owned Business Box. And from there, we branched into a store because we were getting a lot more requests from people who were interested in the individual products, maybe not, you know, a full box. So that's why we said, let's try a storefront and see how that would work out."
That's what motivated them to first create their Curate Noir shop in the Moorestown Mall, and then, to bring a Black Business Expo to the area for National Black Business Month.
The event will take place Saturday, August 21 from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
"It just falls right in line with the mission that we do here in the store where we're showcasing different businesses, and making sure people know that these businesses are available to be purchased from as well even if they're not at the Targets, the Walmarts, but maybe they will be one day," she said.
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Between Nika Corbett's marketing background, combined with her and her husband's network connections, the Corbetts are bringing a variety of different Black-owned products to the expo — everything from baked goods to jewelry, organic care products and more.
"Part of the mission is also not just for us to grow our brand, but also to develop more entrepreneurs in the process, developing their product, and giving them the opportunity to get a bigger space if needed," said Alban Corbett.
He said the COVID-19 pandemic has been especially difficult for Black business owners. The pair look to bridge some of the disparities and hope this is the beginning of many more similar events to come.
"It's the genesis in developing equity and diversity within within our groups," said Corbett. "So it's really important to really showcase them so that way people can be familiar with some of these great brands that we were already aware of."