Battle Creek Shop Aims to Boost Brands Created by Women of Color

A company in Battle Creek has made it its mission to promote brands created by local women of color. And I am here for it!

When shopping for products like, for example, skincare and hair products it's easy to notice just how many options there are. However, it's also easy to observe that amongst those products very few are catered to women of color. There's a small section for 'textured hair' products, a small section of make-up created for darker complexions, and so on. You see it in just about every major store.

That's why I love seeing products not only made for but made by people of color gaining more and more popularity. Everyone should be able to have as many choices as they want instead of having to choose from a very small selection.

Target, for example, now has a section on their app where you can shop for Black-owned or founded brands. Locally, however, there's a company called Bread and Basket that's specifically aiming to promote brands and products created by women of color.

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Bread & Basket, in Battle Creek, works as a public market and social enterprise, as stated on their website. According to Forbes.com, prior to the pandemic women of color were among the fastest-growing demographic of entrepreneurs. With that in mind, Bread & Basket's mission is to,

develop, promote, and provide a network of resources for women of color entrepreneurs in order to build a resilient and thriving community.  Our motto is simple: share the bread, secure the basket.

Whether you're shopping for yourself, for a friend, or just shopping to support a local entrepreneur, Bread & Basket makes it very convenient to browse through multiple brands all on one site.

For example, simply clicking the 'shop now' button on the home screen of their website takes you to a page with a number of categories including:

• Michigan Made - WOC Owned
• Candles
• Bath & Body

And a lot more. You can see all the categories, including a 'featured' category (for when you feel like shopping but don't know what for) here.

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If you happen to be out and about in Battle Creek you can also stop by their physical store at 38 East Michigan Ave.

Why It's Important to Support WOC and POC Owned Businesses

It's not uncommon to see the question posed online, "Why does everything have to be about race?" Whether it's in regards to the first Black man to win Big Brother (he's from Kalamazoo, by the way. Congrats Xavier!) to actual conversations about racism...that question is brought up frequently.

I could go on, in my own words, about why I believe supporting Black-owned businesses is so important. But, let's turn to the experts instead. This is not to say that you shouldn't support other businesses. But, hopefully, by reading through the following articles you can gain a better understanding of why supporting Black-owned businesses is critical:

• From Forbes.com: Why It's Crucial to Support Black-Owned Businesses on Both Corporate and Consumer Levels 
• From Zenbusiness.com: Minority Small Business Owners: Why They Matter and How to Support Them 
• From Beautyindependent.com: What Does Being "Black-Owned" Mean in 2021? 
• From Greenbusinessnetwork.com: 6 Reasons to Support Black-Owned Businesses

As far as Bread & Basket in Battle Creek is concerned, aside from their website you can stay up to date on products being offered by following them on Facebook or Instagram.