By: Kenneth Payne
The Black Store is not just a beauty supply store, it’s an open hub to enlighten visitors about the Black experience as a whole.
Houston native Lloyd Ford and his partner Randy Shelby passionately thought out and opened a successful black owned business right off Cullen and Bellfort back in 2020. Before opening, other beauty supply stores in the area had already been established by Asian owners, but that didn’t stop Ford and Shelby to carve out their own lane, and creatively open a beauty supply store that could better serve the Black community in every aspect of life.
The Black Store: Beauty Supply Experience is the name that’s changing the beauty supply industry game. “We give people what they want in order to feed them what need they need,” the famous motto the store lives by said Ford. This is a powerful and bold statement that can hopefully penetrate the minds of the youth and elders in the Black community. The store is home to a one stop shop for countless skin beauty products, hair products, clothes for men and women, etc. What makes this beauty supply store unique is that they have natural foods such as sea moss and natural juices that customers can better their lives with. After all health is wealth.
Another thing to point out about this beauty supply store is how helpful they are to other Black local owners that might not have the means or connections to promote their business right away. “They can come here, make money, and expose their brands more to help take their business to another level,” Ford said. There are also more services coming soon to the store that include a full beauty salon and job opportunities/internships to advance employment rate around the community.
Most beauty supply stores in the Houston area don’t engage with the community outside of the business the way The Black Store does. Ford and his partner created a community group program called the C.G.E., which stands for Creative Group Economics. It’s a mechanism that Ford and Shelby use to engage the community. A lot goes into this program such as education, agriculture, community gardening, and leveraging politics on their side with using another mechanism like P.A.I.D Texas, which means Political Advocates for Independent Democracy. The Black Store supports this political committee and its grassroot candidates during campaign runs in Houston. Supporting P.A.I.D Texas helps with bringing political awareness to the Black community and encourages them to be more politically involved with issues inside their communities.
“I want The Black Store to always fulfill and be an economic base for what we’re trying to do. This is more than just a store,” Ford stated. The Black Store is heavily involved in the community and truly cares for the community. They work with the Harris County Health Department with Violence Intervention, and they recently gave over 600 backpacks away at a back-to-school drive they hosted, in addition to poetry nights, free movie nights, and the list goes on. The Black Store is not in it to only make money, but to also be a beacon of light that helps the blinding eyes of the community to see a better way out. Monetizing your passion is the motto that the Black Store wants every kid to strive for in their program.
With hopes to expanding their brand in the near future around the Houston area, customers can expect top of the line high quality products, goods, and services when visiting The Black Store. Only two and a half years old, the business found great success for itself so far bringing in more than $100,000 dollars in sales last year and attracted publicity from KHOU News. If you’re ever by Cullen and Bellfort Avenue, come over to the great one stop shop store for an amazing experience.
