Like many small business owners, Alesia Washington wears many hats.
She makes knot therapy balls and has written a self-love guided journal. She offers one-on-one coaching to help people identify what’s holding them back and draws crowds to a knitting class called Y Knit Happens.
“(It’s) primarily a business surrounded around health … anything that can help you get from where you are now to where you’d like to be,” said Washington, 62, of Hyde Park, on Saturday morning.
Washington was one of more than two dozen vendors selling their wares at an all-day Saturday Small Business event in Bronzeville. Hoping to promote smaller stores over the big chains like Walmart and Best Buy that typically get the lion’s share of business on Black Friday, American Express introduced a marketing promotion called “Small Business Saturday” 15 years ago.
Several vendors were established within The Black Star Project, an economic and academic improvement organization housed in a portion of the Supreme Life Building, a historic insurance building located at the corner of East 35th Street and King Drive.
Other vendors manned tables inside Absolutely Anything Essential, a gift shop and retail business incubator that hosted the event and is located in a three-level brownstone attached to the Supreme Life building.
Kenya Robertson, owner of Absolutely Anything Essential, said Saturday’s gathering, which included a breakfast and an afternoon Christmas tree lighting, was the neighborhood’s ninth annual Small Business Saturday event. Every year, more people are aware that the Saturday after Thanksgiving is a day to show support for small businesses in our neck of the woods, she added.
“We want people to know that with small businesses, you know the people. You can bump into them. You can say hi to them,” said Robertson, 51, of the South Loop. “We know you’re going to buy big boxes, but don’t forget about the small business owner … so they can stay in the community and really help the community thrive.”
Robertson, who got the seed money to open the brownstone by winning a Chicago Urban League business plan competition, said the incubator has been around for eight years.
Robertson explained that incubates, like Washington, pay a membership fee, giving them space in the gift shop on the first floor of the brownstone to sell products and host events or classes in the building. A small candle-making class, for example, can be found on the first floor of the brownstone. Robertson said the larger ones usually meet on the second and third floors of the building, with a theater space with a stage and a large television.
“Where else can entrepreneurs come, have a good time and have a platform to not only sell their items, but (also) they can make their items here and then teach others their skills? Robertson said.
Lavern Green, 49, of Beverly, was another vendor. She is the owner of Natural Izz Beauty, a company that sells natural products for face, scalp, hair and body care.
Green said she can work full-time and run the company on the side, in part because of the help of her family, including an 18-year-old son and a 19-year-old daughter. She recognizes the strengths of her family members and finds something for everyone to do – like tagging, measuring and organizing events.
“It’s very important to remember that you can walk outside your door and go to a little mom-and-pop,” Green said. “You don’t have to get on a bus and go to Walmart and Target.”
The Associated Press contributed.