Owners say starting and maintaining a Black business is already difficult enough.

But the COVID-19 pandemic is hitting them disproportionately.

What You Need To Know

  • Studies Show 40% of Black owned businesses are expected to not recover due to COVID-19

  • The Creator's Lounge founder says she hopes to give local Black owned businesses a platform

  • Buy Black Saturday features new Black vendors each week under outdoor vending tents on South Salina

“Forty percent of Black on businesses won’t make it out of COVID, so that was just really important to me to kind of make up some type of impact,” said Indaria Jones, founder of the Creator’s Lounge and Buy Black Saturdays.

Jones said she created Buy Black Saturdays to give Black businesses a platform and to keep Black dollars in the Black community.

“Because that’s what help fuels our local businesses our moms our dads our communities our stores,” she said.

Buy Black Saturday features new Black vendors each week under outdoor vending tents on South Salina. 

Jones says the event is modeled after Buy Black Tuesday, a national challenge to keep Black dollars in the Black community.

“This is more than a challenge, we should be buying black every day, every single weekend and we should get familiar with it, so in order to do that we have to know what businesses are out there to support”

Vendors agree this type of event is important and also say the location is important.

“Now, knowing they can come around the corner and shop in their own community is beautiful, definitely,” said Aquinda Sharper, owner of Wellness with Quin.

Jones says she plans to continue Buy Black Saturdays as weather permits.

But even if you can’t make it to Buy Black Saturday...

“Just be more intentional about buying and shopping Black, come down to the Sankofa district there’s a whole strip of Black-owned businesses down here,” she said.

For more information on Buy Black Saturday and the businesses that will be hosted visit their Facebook page.