Black-owned businesses: Loop customer spotlight
Carly Greenberg
·February 15, 2024
In honor of Black History month, we’re taking the opportunity to spotlight Black-owned businesses that deserve your support.
As of 2020, only 3% of U.S.-based businesses were majority Black-owned. Nearly half of all Black entrepreneurs said that they had faced issues in getting access to capital to grow their businesses, spurred by concerns such as lack of knowledge about the financing process, or lack of a relationship with a lender.
As such, grassroots support from customers is key: nearly 60% of Black entrepreneurs say that supporting Black-owned businesses is an extremely or very effective strategy for moving towards racial equality. And 87% said that they were committed to using their businesses to drive social change.
While we’ve previously showcased a variety of Black-owned businesses that operate on Shopify, we also wanted to go a little closer to home – and introduce you to some of our favorite Loop Black-owned merchants, all of which were also founded by women.
We’ve been excited to watch these merchants grow their businesses over the years, and we have no doubt that you’ll love their offerings, too. Check out their shops, learn more about their inspirations, and give back to the Black community through conscious consumerism.
Rebdolls
Dominican Republic-born founder Grisel Paula launched her size-inclusive fashion brand, Rebdolls, in 2014. Having worked as a plus-sized model, she had realized that the styles available for larger bodies weren’t always as fashionable as those in smaller sizes – so she set out to change that by launching a brand that brings innovative style and fashion-forward design to all women. Rebdolls offers a wide variety of flattering tops, bottoms, dresses, swimwear, and more, in sizes 0-32, and showcases its designs on models of all sizes and body types, so that everyone can find inspiration. Their tagline, after all, is #sexyforall.
The Wrap Life
Founded by Nnenna Stella in 2013, The Wrap Life is an online store for head wraps and other hair accessories, including hats, scrunchies, and turbans. She founded the shop after searching online for a high-quality, curated collection of West African-inspired head wraps – she couldn’t find anything that met her needs, so decided to learn to sew and create her own store. The Wrap Life’s site, app, and social media celebrate the beauty of West African culture and heritage, with tutorials on different techniques for wearing wraps and other hair accessories; articles about cultural symbolism; and stories about the history of head wraps. The brand encourages customers to engage in self-exploration around their own cultural traditions, delivering access to a diverse range of beautiful head wraps and hair accessories.
The PuffCuff
CEO Ceata Lash loved her natural Black hair – but didn’t love the hair accessories available to hold it in place. She found that most of them were geared towards people with naturally straight hair, rather than thick, textured hair like hers. So she set out to create a product that would hold her hair in place without damaging it: the PuffCuff. The PuffCuff is a clamp that’s designed to hold natural hair in place, without causing headaches or hair damage. The flagship product is now available in a variety of colors, sizes, and styles, along with an accessory line of other products for styling natural hair. Customers can take the Size Finder quiz to make sure that they’re choosing the right product for their unique needs.
Coco and Breezy
Coco and Breezy is an eyewear line, founded by twin designers Corianna and Brianna Dotson in 2009. The twins are DJs and producers as well as designers, and their eyewear styles have taken the fashion and music worlds by storm – their designs have been featured in publications including Vogue, and they’ve designed eyewear for collaborations with brands like Hershey’s, Ciroc, and SIX:02. In addition to their successful online shop, the sisters now sell their eyewear at Nordstroms and over 400 other retailers around the country.
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