Millionaires seek ownership of this Black business marketplace but want to turn its mission into something else.
Miiriya, a marketplace where consumers can find everything related to Black-owned businesses all in one place, announced plans to close after receiving a devastating notice that the extension from their server would be cut.
According to an announcement from the owner on Jan. 26, the marketplace will be shutting down in four weeks.
“A lot of Multimillionaires, the majority just wanted to purchase the entire thing to turn it into something different with different nonBlack shareholders/ for goals that it wasn’t for,” the owner revealed on Twitter. “I showed them the thousands of Black Businesses Miiriya helped succeed/ 100s of people it helped.”
Miiriya’s owner shared the depression that has come about amid the December notice about the server. The Twitter thread took followers through a timeline of the marketplace, including its initial mission in launching and its numerous efforts to keep the platform afloat.
“I’ve put a lot of work into the code that syncs Black-owned businesses from all major platforms,” the owner said, sharing the accomplishment of completing the application programming interface (API) for the businesses to sync products, orders, and shipping from their stores.
The marketplace allows
Black vendors to sign up through the website or mobile app for free, as opposed to other sites that charge monthly fees. According to the website, the owner looks toward donations, tips, and one-dollar memberships to cover the app’s servers and monthly costs.“Miiriya.com gathers people who believe in ideas, change, and come together as creatives and thinkers to make those ideas come true,” the website read. “It’s a place that aims to provide you with whatever comes to mind.”
“My goal is to create convenience for shoppers who want to support Black businesses seamlessly while also creating a surge recirculating the Black dollar,” the owner wrote on the Miiriya website.
Since the post, Twitter users have sought out ways to support Miiriya. The owner provided its PayPal and CashApp for those interested in helping.