ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — There was a time when Black business districts were booming in segregated cities across America. But so many didn’t survive the test of time.
Gentrification, Jim Crow laws and a number of other issues played a role in many of those businesses disappearing over the years.
Boiled peanuts, potato chips and aisles filled with necessities, is what many expect from a staple, neighborhood grocery store. At least, that’s the idea Daisy Swinton had when she first went into business nearly 50 years ago.
“When I came to Florida, you could find a Black business on almost every corner,” Swinton said.
Her family moved to St. Pete when she was 11 years old. She became a mother at a young age and never made it past the seventh grade. But that wasn’t going to stop her.
Along with old newspaper articles, Swinton still has pictures of her original store located in the now Historic Gas Plant District.
“Older people back then, they got into trying to have something for themselves and they got business going. Whatever they could see, they got on the corner and (sold). Some of them opened up businesses,” she said.
That’s the approach she took, learning how to run a business from her parents, and taking some of what she picked up from other businesses to stay afloat.
“Back then, someone might say, ‘I don’t have a dollar,’ for what they want. They’ll give you a little credit, you come in and you pay later. I remember that good,” she said.
It’s a system that she says was about more than money. It represented community.
“They were reminding them, don’t forget where you come from. You’ve got to pull together to have. If they didn’t pull together to have it, you can’t grow from it. That’s why they put it into the community to let them know you don’t have to go way out. We got it here,” said Swinton.
Swinton was one of the last businesses to sell and move out of the Historic Gas Plant District to make room for Major League Baseball. She’s also one of the few to survive all these years in a different location, just a few miles from Tropicana Field.
Longevity for Black businesses like Swinton’s Lakeview Market is rare, according to Green Book of Tampa Bay co-founder Dr. Hillary Van Dyke.
“I think it is really impressive when you have businesses around here that are Black-owned that have been around for decades. There’s just so many things stacked against Black people. Not only when they’re trying to found businesses, but keep them open,” she said.
Van Dyke highlights Black businesses with her online directory, The Green Book of Tampa Bay, modeled after The Negro Motorist Travel Guide that helped Black people navigate Jim Crow laws. Now, they’re working to serve businesses and consumers in a different way.
“In Tampa Bay, the statistics show that Black people have inequitable outcomes for economic vitality here. So, a lot of what we’re trying to do is help even the playing field and help people be more critical and thoughtful about where they’re spending their money,” said Van Dyke.
That’s the kind of thinking, she said, continues to allow businesses like Swinton’s to survive for so long.
