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Retail is dying, if not already dead. 9,500 stores closed permanently in 2019 but more than 15,000 may shut down permanently in 2020, in the aftermath of COVID-19. Those who insist that Black people must open up their own stores may need to rethink their logic. Yes, Black entrepreneurs desperately need distribution for their products but the method of distribution is critical. No one get milk delivered from a milkman anymore and in the same way, the paradigm of retail has already shifted. Black people need to be in step with market trends or risk losing it all.
We Buy Black has launched product fulfillment operations in Atlanta, in order to provide greater distribution of Black owned products. Rather than depending on others to get their products to the masses, Black entrepreneurs now have an opportunity to reach the world, without leaving their community: figuratively speaking. This new distribution opportunity also supports the bottom line of our community. Vacant retail space has doubled in New York City over the past decade, a direct result of rising real estate prices. Simply put, it’s increasingly impossible to run a retail operation, with the tremendous overhead. Product fulfillment will allow more Black entrepreneurs to simply focus on making great products, with lower overhead. Further, transportation and other logistics can be taken off of their plates: a reliable, pro-Black distribution apparatus will make Black entrepreneurs more money, while offering more convenience.
As Black entrepreneurs lower their costs, expand their customer base and become more profitable, they will inevitably need to hire. As they hire, Black unemployment will begin to decline. As wealth is funneled into and circulates within our community, Black people will have more bricks to build and as we build, we will become stronger. Now is the time to believe and invest in you, to invest in us. In the past Black entrepreneurs depended on other retailers and distributors to get their products to the masses but with the dawning of this new day, they must only depend on you: the fate of our businesses is now literally in our hands. We must make the choice to buy Black, build Black and invest Black. In this new reality, no longer do we need to point to white opposition: we have the opportunity to make Black choices.
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