It’s no secret the beauty industry is a multi-million dollar industry and that black women are a huge segment of the consumers. Despite their massive buying power, African Americans only account for 7% of beauty and hair supply store owners. One group of New York-based sisters has taken matters into their own hands.
Four years ago, Brianna Lannie, Danielle, and Lauren Jackson came together to start their beauty supply store in their hometown of Buffalo, NY. Why? They were frustrated at the lack of product choices for their hair type. “A lot of times they’ll get the wrong thing or they’ll be led in the wrong direction, so I knew that it was a need,” Brianna told WIVB.
With the help of a local non-profit organization called WEDI Buffalo, the sisters opened their store on March 7. The Hair Hive offers a wide variety of products for men and women. “We have a lot of variety of colors,” said Lauren. “Just a wide spectrum from glow-in-the-dark hair, to sparkle hair, pretty much anything you can think of that’s different we have it in our store, because we want to give something to our community that they can’t get anywhere else.”
The move made local history as the sisters became the first black female beauty store owners in the area. The store also runs a community initiative to feature products from other local entrepreneurs. Plus, every dollar spent in their store is used to support the neighborhood they grew up in.
‘We want them to know that to support us is supporting yourselves and your surrounding area, and we want them to shop with us,” Lauren said.