Philly’s Black Business Expo retailers offer regional economy ‘vibe check’. They are struggling.

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Sierra Marrero has run a handmade herbal crystal candle making business in Philadelphia for the past three years.

At first, she saw a steady flow of customers at Indigo Stardust Candles, but that has somewhat dried up this year. Some of her regulars simply don’t have the extra cash to spend on luxuries, even something as relatively inexpensive as candles, she said.

Marrero is just one Black-owned small business at the National Black Business Month Expo

who described a difficult economy with higher costs and fewer customers with extra cash. There are more than 1,100 Black owned businesses inside Philadelphia city limits, or roughly 5.4% of all businesses, according to an analysis of Census data by Drexel University. 

Entrepreneurs, who convened at the recently concluded expo at the Wells Fargo Center in South Philly Thursday, said raw materials, shipping and online competitors selling cheaper products than handmade goods are the biggest challenges they face. To stay afloat, they have to cut costs, get creative and think beyond brick and mortar.

Marrero is still selling candles at pop-up markets and online, but she’s also making party favors, throwing private candle making classes and even selling wholesale.

“[Customers] may not want to buy a candle but they might want to pay for an experience and bring all their friends out,” she said.“But we’re always popping up, we do a lot of events and live shops [on social media].”

She said raw materials and shipping have doubled in price. About three years ago, she could buy 60 pounds of soy wax for $120, but now she can only get 45 pounds for the same price.

“The biggest thing is shipping,” she said. “So now I’m trying to find more local places to get it so I’m not paying extreme shipping because glasses are heavy, pounds of wax is heavy and it definitely runs up [the cost to produce the products].”

Tiffany Cantlin, who owns Swimbodtee, a plus sized swim suit business, sells her products online and at various pop-ups. But it’s been hard to keep the momentum going.

“I feel like people aren’t really spending as they were once before,” she said.

Like Marrero, the cost of shipping also hit her bottom line.

“Everything is going up,” she said.

Pamela Thorton, owner of Pound Cake Heaven in Yeadon, said her business survived the COVID-19 pandemic downturn. She was hoping for a respite, but said that there are fewer customers placing orders this year. To deal with shrinking sales, she has reduced her flavors from 24 to 12 .

“It’s become very tough. Very very tough. And like, I’m thanking God that we’re able to survive in this economy today. I mean, everything has skyrocketed and we have had to pivot and you know keep surviving,” she said.

Some of these businesses are going beyond just cutting costs.

Philadelphia stylist Meeka Johnson runs All Black Everything, a live shopping Instagram experience that features creators such as Indigo Stardust Candles. Live shopping is when a founder goes on social media and livestreams themselves answering questions from customers, modeling their wares and demonstrating what shoppers can expect. She said this creative way of retailing has allowed her to overcome challenges posed by overhead costs.

“A lot of brick-and-mortars are closing. You have to transition into the future,” Johnson said. “We shop live with a different Black brand from all over the country right now.”

But she keeps the collective of businesses featured on social media to the United States to keep the shipping costs and times reasonable.

“If you could get your stuff in two days from Amazon, then we want to be able to do it by at least two or three days,” she said.

Still, the swift retail business during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when individuals were more flush with extra spending money, is gone.

“A couple of luxury brands are doing good but everybody is seeing a decline. And we have to be really honest with ourselves if you have a business, how to save it,” she said.

Local African clothing retailer Rosetta Bernasko watched one of her friends and competitors shut down a store about a year ago.

“It’s been heart wrenching to see people in my space shut down,” she said. “It was right before Christmas.”

Bernasko, a native of Ghana, brings the clothing flair from her home country but has found she competes best in local communities.

She runs two physical stores: one in Bala Cynwyd across the street from Philadelphia and the other in Christiana, Delaware. She did pop-ups in the past but went into a physical space about four years ago. Business has not been as brisk in the past year.

“We’ve seen the effects of inflation. There’s been a downturn but it’s just starting to kind of ease up a little bit,” she said. “But we’re still holding our heads up and making sure that we’re innovating and recalibrating.