‘One-stop-shop’ Black-owned market hosted at the University Centre

On Oct. 12, students were able to support Black-owned businesses by attended the Black-owned market in the UC. CREDIT: THE KWEEN COMPANY

ELENI KOPSAFTIS

Throughout last month, various booths lined the edges of the University Centre Courtyard as they often do, but students who happened to pass through the UC on Oct. 12 would’ve gotten the opportunity to meet several Black business owners during the BlackOwned Vendor Marketplace.

The Black-Owned Vendor Marketplace is a very recent project–its first event took place on March 16 of this year. It took place between noon and 6 p.m., and the market was hosted by the Cultural Diversity Office and Guelph Black Students Association in collaboration with Guelph Market and The Kween Company.

According to Kween, founder of The Kween Company and host of the Black-Owned Vendors Marketplace, the Black-owned market is “a platform for one-stop shopping” as well as “an accessible shopping mall for our Blackowned businesses.”

She told The Ontarion that the event allows for communities on and off campus to access a large variety of goods.

“Many businesses have had to find ways to evolve during a pandemic, and even more so as an underseen and heavily undervalued community. This allows for expansion of audience and reach while creating community together,” said Kween.

There was lots to offer thanks to the wide variety of vendors, such as The Kween Company, Kynk Naturals, Sassy Pinz, Bonjor Sunwear, Painting Pastry Chef, Nostalgic Glow, Emmmbellished, Made By Chu, The Art Collective, GN Fashion and Accessories, Afro Crush, Iris Backayard Sauces, The Black Lotus Body Care, Guelph Black Heritage Society, HudHud Sweets, and Reefd Creative.

Honorary vendors also included Natural Be You Tea, EM Wigs, Ms. Meri Mak, Shyne Body Butter, Zion Topical Food Store, Safa Middle Eastern Market, and Nattilly Attire Body Polish and Oils, and Hairnergy Braids.

By the end of the day, the Black-Owned Vendors Marketplace ended up being a huge success, and many students had the opportunity to shop at the many wonderful booths.

“The overall options were incredible, the food was so tasty, the music was bumping, and we all had a little time to get to know one another,” said Kween.

Also at the marketplace was Baked Cookie Co, a Guelph-based made-to-order craft cookie company. Founder Jordanah Dawn is a single mom, and she uses the profits from her cookie sales to fund her 15-year-old’s prep school basketball as well as his “ever increasing appetite,” she wrote on her Facebook page.

“I spent a long time trying to find the best cookie and finally experimented with recipes and found what I think is the perfect chewy, chocolate chip cookie. I have created gourmet chocolate chip cookies by adding all my favourite add-ins for an ever-changing menu,” she further writes.

“My hope is to eventually make this a full time thing with a storefront and bakery.”

From cookies to sauces, art, and fashion, the market had plenty to offer, and thanks to free vendor fees, the participating businesses were successfully able to profit from the event from the getgo rather than needing to make up the money for simply setting up a booth.

ICONS BY FLATICON

“Often small businesses, particularly African, Caribbean, Black, and Indigenious businesses, get overlooked, have less access to resources, and often do not have a storefront you can visit,” said Kween. “Having the space to provide almost like a pop-up shop is really significant for accessibility and availability.”

Kween thanks event organiser Alexis Charles and her team of students, her partner, and all of the vendors for making the BlackOwned Vendors Marketplace such a success. “Without them, this would be just an average day in the UC. But it wasn't. It was POPPIN'!”

• The Kween Company: thekweencompany.com • Kynk Naturals: kynk.ca • Sassy Pinz: thesassypinz.com • Bonjor Sunwear: instagram.com/bonjor.ca/ • Painting Pastry Chef: thedessertartist.ca • Nostalgic Glow: nostalgicglow.square.site • Emmmbellished: etsy.com/shop/emmmbellished • Made By Chu • The Art Collective: artcollective.ca • GN Fashion and Accessories • Afro Crush: afrocrush.ca • Iris Backyard Sauces: irisbackayard.com • The Black Lotus Body Care: theblacklotusbc.com • Baked Cookie Co: facebook.com/CookiezMakeEverythingBetter/ • Guelph Black Heritage Society: guelphblackheritage. ca • HudHud Sweets • Reefd Creative • Natural Be You Tea: naturalbeyoutea.square.site • EM Wigs: emwigs.com • Ms Meri Mak: fashionboutiquemsmerimak.ca • Shyne Body Butter: shynebodybutter.com • Zion Topical Food Store • Safa Middle Eastern Market: safafoods.ca • Nattilly Attire Body Polish and Oils • Hairnergy Braids: hairnergybraids.com Editor’s Note: The Ontarion was unable to confirm some websites of these businesses but encourages others to check them out and support local BIPOC businesses.