SMALL BUSINESS, BIG MOVES

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How this new collective marketplace is boosting the Black-owned businesses of Columbus at a critical juncture

By Jack McLaughlin / Photos by Sarah Pfeifer

By day, Rhonda Shehee is a project manager for Bleckmann Fashion & Lifestyle Logistics. The rest of the time, however, she’s a small business owner, working tirelessly to keep Soleil Candle Collections–her selfcreated brand of luxury candles–afloat.

And like many other small, Black-owned businesses, Shehee’s company was stuck in a familiar growth-related Catch-22: When you’re too small to purchase your own brick and mortar space, but the fastest way to grow is by opening your own storefront.

So in a world where a third avenue didn’t exist, Shehee made one.

“What I’ve learned as a business owner is this: When there’s not an option, you make one for yourself.”

What she created, which is now a regular fixture at Eastland Mall, and is also poised for growth at other locations, is Black Wall Street. Held once a month, this collection of roughly 40 vendors aids small to medium sized Black-owned businesses by providing critical visibility in addition to a supportive community network.

The event—which Shehee regularly positions outside the mall’s food court to maximize the amount of foot traffic—boasts a bustling farmers-market type atmosphere, complete with vendor tents and a wide variety of goods and services offered, including everything from baked goods to tax services.

“Since COVID, the pop-up format has become really popular, and for good reason,” Shehee said. “And now with other Black-owned businesses embracing it too, Black Wall Street is helping a lot of people to get the word out, to make real progress with their brands.”

↑ Rhonda Shehee

Black Wall Street has entered a partnership with Eastland Mall that allows the pop-up marketplace to take place on the first Saturday of every month. And according to Shehee, it isn’t a one-way transaction, either.

“Everyone in the Black community is aware that a lot of your major-end retailers have left Eastland. It has been a challenge to get businesses there,” Shehee said. “So we’re hoping to help the mall while we help ourselves.”

And now, it isn’t just Eastland where interested shoppers can find Black Wall Street, either. Shehee is hoping to expand the group’s footprint and create opportunities for vendors throughout the greater Columbus area. Most recently, she’s even secured a Black Wall Street event at Polaris Fashion Place, which will take place on Feb. 19.

One of the many vendors making up the Black Wall Street marketplace is local author Kimberly Davis-Peters, who owns and operates Ellie’s Book Shop, an online store for children’s books featuring protagonists of color.

“The Black Wall Street initiative is padding all of these local businesses, including mine; we come together and are able to present ourselves to shoppers in one location, where they’re already out shopping, already looking to buy,” she said. “It can be so hard to find your footing starting out, especially if you don’t have a large advertising budget.”

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More than just supporting business, the local author also believes that Black Wall Street provides an important sense of community for smaller Blackowned businesses, many of whom are often dealing with similar hurdles.

“It’s the whole idea of a collective that’s been just as valuable to me as the marketplaces. We can support each other as businesses; we know what the others are going through,” she said.

Shehee is embracing this holistic approach as well. Now formally an LLC, Black Wall Street has begun offering not only its cornerstone marketplaces, but a variety of other important classes to help Black business owners gain not only sales, but the skills necessary to keep their concepts profitable.

“It really has evolved into an LLC, and going forward we’ll be providing financial literacy workshops and more for Black business owners; we’ll be providing aesthetic and design help even,” Shehee said. “Black Wall Street is becoming a onestop shop for vendors, not just to boost sales, but for the resources they need to succeed overall.”

Learn more at www.blkwallstreetpopup.com