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A broken fingernail put Kasheena Brookins on the entrepreneurial path to become one of a minority of Black-owned beauty supply store owners across the country.
Her Lynwood-based Halo Beauty Supply store marked its one-year anniversary this month. It is one of only an estimated 20% to 30% of such stores targeting African American consumers that are Black owned in this segment of the beauty industry long dominated at the retail and wholesale level by Korean Americans. So said Sam Ennon, founder and president of the Black Owned Beauty Supply Association. Meanwhile African American consumers account for more than 80% of consumer dollars spent in the segment according to a 2018 Nielsen report.
Brookins made highlighting the fact that her store is Black-owned part of her marketing.
“I’m proud,” she said. “I put in so much work. I spent nights in this place. I worked too hard. I put into this store everything I had. I wanted people to know.”
Brookins, 33, worked for years as a property inspector in the mortgage industry. After breaking a nail while working one day in Portage, Indiana, she said she couldn’t find a beauty supply store nearby to buy nail glue.
“I knew Portage has a good amount of Black people,” she said.
So, the idea was sparked to open a store in the area to meet what she expected to be good consumer demand. She found a site in a strip mall in Portage and was waiting on a draft lease for the space “when the Realtor ghosted me,” she said.
But that didn’t deter her. While driving down Torrence Avenue one day with her mom, who was looking for a condominium in Lynwood, Brookins’ eyes were drawn to retail space in the small strip mall at the corner of Torrence and 197th.
“I said that’s a perfect spot for a store,” she said.
She checked it out and then pursued and signed the lease for the spot. In the end, she said it worked out for the best that she didn’t get the Portage location. She learned that had she opened at the site in Portage, she would have been competing with another beauty supply store that opened across the street.
“It would have been hard to split that (African-American) demographic,” she said.
As so many African American entrepreneurs do, Brookins launched the business by using her savings. She said she also received a personal loan from her mom.
Access to capital is among the barriers that has kept African Americans out of the industry, said Ennon. It can cost as much as $150,000 to open a beauty supply store, he said. Difficulty accessing in-demand natural and synthetic hair that Black consumers purchase and use for extensions, braids, weaves and that is used in wigs, has also been a challenge for Black entrepreneurs, he said, alleging African American-owned businesses are often shut out by Korean American wholesalers focused on protecting their dominance in the segment.
Brookins said she has faced that problem. Among popular hair brands she has been able to offer in her store are Sensationnel, Outre and Bobbi Boss. But wholesalers of some other popular hair brands didn’t return her calls, and another told her they weren’t expanding in her area, she said. She has faced similar challenges accessing eye lashes and artificial fingernail products, she added.
“I’m facing discrimination when it comes to that,” she said. “It impacts me greatly. People will come in the door or will call me on the phone and ask for something that I don’t carry. I have to tell them I don’t have it. That happens every day.”
Sometimes she’s able to recommend a different brand. But often, if a product is in high demand “and trending on social media, if I don’t have it, they don’t shop with me,” she said. “That’s frustrating, but I can’t blame them.
“It just sucks … and there’s really no valid reason.”
Ennon said the association has formed an alliance with hair manufacturers in China to help Black-owned businesses access hair and other products at the wholesale level, and has relationships with distributors that help the stores access products.
Despite the challenges, Brookins’ business fared well during its first year, she said, adding she has received helpful advice and support from a Facebook group of African American beauty supply store owners made up of Black entrepreneurs across the country.
Halo Beauty Supply is ahead of where she initially projected it would be at this time, she said, adding she has benefited from good traffic at the Torrence Avenue location.
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“She is paying for herself,” she said of the store. “I’m blessed enough to have the amount of traffic to pay for the store and still able to build on what we already have.”
Her customers are predominantly Black women and men, but also include white and Hispanic people, as well as some hair stylists, she said.
What does she see as key to being successful?
“You’ve got to keep on top of the trends, and I have to keep my shelves full,” Brookins said. “I have to make sure customer service is up to par. I hate when I walk into a business, and I’m not greeted, and I’m overlooked. I make it my business to speak to everyone and give as much help as I can give. Even if I don’t carry what you want, I don’t want you to have a negative experience. I want you to leave knowing I tried to help you and gave you as much knowledge as I have. I will even direct people to other stores.”
Her long-term goals for her business are to expand it and add another location.
So many products are “made for us, but we own such a small percentage of it,” she said while stressing the need for more Black-owned businesses in the industry. It’s important because dollars spent at Black-owned businesses go back into the community, she and Ennon said.
Francine Knowles is a freelance columnist for the Daily Southtown
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