Like many small business owners, Alicia Washington wears many hats.
She makes hand-knotted therapy balls and has written a how-to journal on self-love. 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 by wellness … anything that might help you get from where you are now to where you want to be,” Washington, 62, of Hyde Park, said Saturday morning.
Washington was one of more than two dozen vendors selling their wares at Saturday's all-day small business event in Bronzeville. Hoping to promote small stores over 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.
Some of the vendors were set up within the Black Star Project, an economic and academic improvement organization located in part of the Supreme Life Building, a historic insurance building located at the corner of East 35th Street and King Drive.
Other vendors manned the tables inside Anything Basic, 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.
Saturday's gathering, which included breakfast and an afternoon Christmas tree lighting, was the neighborhood's ninth annual small business event Saturday, said Kenya Robertson, owner of Absolutely Anything Essential. She added that more people realize each year that the Saturday after Thanksgiving is a day to show support for small businesses in the woods.
“We want people to know that for small businesses, it's the people you know. You can run into them. You can say hello to them,” said Robertson, 51, of the South Loop. “We know you're going to be shopping in a big box, but Don’t forget about the small business owner…so they can stay in the community and help the community really thrive.”
The incubator has been around for eight years, said Robertson, who secured the seed money to open the brownstone by winning a Chicago Urban League business plan competition.
Robertson explained that incubators, like Washington, pay a membership fee, which gives them a space in the gift shop on the first floor of the Brownstone Building to sell products and host events or classes in the building. For example, a small candle-making class might meet on the first floor of a brownstone. Robertson said larger meetings are usually on the second and third floors of the building, with a theater space housing a stage and a large television.
“Where can entrepreneurs come to have a good time and have a platform to not only sell their products, but (also) they can make their products here and then teach others their skills as well?” Robertson said.
Laverne Green, 49, of Beverly, was another seller. She is the owner of Natural Izz Beauty, a company that sells natural face, scalp, hair and body care products.
Green said she can work a full-time job and run the business on the side, in part because of the help of her family, including her 18-year-old son and 19-year-old daughter. She knows the strengths of her family members and finds something everyone can do — like marking, measuring, and setting up for events.
“It's very important to remember that you can walk out your door and go into a young family,” Green said. “You don't have to take the bus and go to Walmart and Target.”
The Associated Press contributed.
