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Your Voices: Holiday shoppers urged to ‘shop Black’ on Black Friday

By Deborah Horne, KIRO 7 News
By Deborah Horne, KIRO 7 News

SEATTLE — There’s a new push to promote Black-owned businesses.

It’s being called “Black Black Friday!” A day to spend some of your holiday dollars this Friday at a Black-owned business.

We highlighted three local businesses.

‘Tis the season for giving, and Black-owned businesses like year-old Arte Noir in Seattle’s Central District are stocking up for the busiest shopping season of the year, just in time for a special emphasis on buying Black for the holidays.

“Arte Noir was created to be in support of Black creatives, of Black artists, Black vendors,” said Jazmyn Scott.

She runs the brick-and-mortar store started by her mother, Vivian Phillips, a longtime member of Seattle’s arts community.

“And so when you come into this space, you’ll find products that are made by a variety of folks,” said Scott. “So, you literally get to ‘shop Black.’ And you get to support so many local and even non-local Black businesses when you come shop at Arte Noir.”

“So, I work in silver and 24-carat vermeil and rose gold vermeil,” said jewelry maker Adia Mei Jun Bobo.

Bobo set up her shop a year ago, too. Citrine Design Shop, she says, is the only Black-owned business in all of Gilman Village in Issaquah. It’s part showcase for her own fine jewelry, made, she says, to be easy to wear.

“That’s one of the main things that I think about when I am designing,” said Bobo. “Can somebody just like put this on and not think about it anymore? And just like go on their day.”

She sells the wares of others, too.

“Mostly, we focus on trying to find things that are really thoughtfully designed,” said Bobo. “And so we work with a lot of other independent designer makers and artists, and also a few larger brands that have a real focus on design, local, national, international, all of those things.”

“My name is Beka Atwood, at the Shoppe Seahurst in Old Burien.”

This is Atwood’s sixth holiday season in the heart of Burien’s shopping district, offering unique designs that reflect who she is.

“You really get to have a personality and connection with someone when you walk into the store,” she says, “because, I mean, really, this is kinda my living room. I’m here all the time. I’ve curated everything. And, as a Black woman-owned business, we try and promote and support other women and other businesses as well.”

This is just a taste of the places you may go if you want to “shop Black” this holiday season.

Find links to African-American-owned businesses below.



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