The Black Owned Beauty Supply Association (BOBSA) estimates that the Black hair care and cosmetics industry is estimated to be worth $9 billion. However, it also estimates that less than 5 percent of the beauty supply stores in the United States are Black-owned.
This information can be shocking, as beauty supply stores carry products not found in retailers like Ulta Beauty or Sally’s that are essential for the upkeep of textured hair.
“If we’re not driving the decisions, that just suggests to us further discrimination. Just really being on the short end of the stick,” said Chasity Monroe, owner of Pink Noire Beauty Supply and Cosmetics, located at 152 North Avalon Street in Memphis, Tennessee.
Pink Noire is one of the few Black-owned beauty supply stores in Memphis, and opened its doors in April 2022.
“If there are people making products for us, that don’t really know about our hair, but are trying to get a profit, that’s never going to end well,” Monroe said. “We’re literally financing generations of a whole other community, and that dollar is not going to come back to our community.”
According to BOBSA, a majority of the beauty supply stores in the country are owned by Korean immigrants.
Monroe started her career in beauty about 15 years ago when she worked for Procter & Gamble. In conducting market research and working on consumer insights, she found herself having several conversations with Black women. Monroe pinpoints these moments as the beginning of her understanding of the Black beauty industry from a corporate perspective.
However, as a Black woman, Monroe also had an understanding of the Black beauty industry from a consumer perspective.
“Obviously, as a Black woman, I’ve been going to beauty supply stores my whole life,” she said.
According to Monroe, one of her biggest takeaways was that Black women were overwhelmed with what the market currently had for beauty supply stores. Pink Noire seeks to remedy this, and Monroe likens the store’s layout to that of a grocery store.
“That is a big point of differentiation,” said Monroe. “We even have and highlight a Black-owned section.”
Monroe said that her decision comes at a time where Black-owned brands are not only celebrated because of their ownership, but because consumers prefer to buy from a company that understands their specific needs.
“Obviously folks who look like us tend to understand what our needs are,” said Monroe. “A lot of the time those products are also really great quality versus some of those bigger company brands that are just trying to get a profit.”
While some stores prioritize the profit aspect of running a business, Monroe hopes to also make shopping an experience.
“I wanted to have something that’s not like ‘the price of having Black hair,’” Monroe said. “It’s not a problem at all. It’s a gift that should be curated by a great experience.”
She recalls being in one beauty supply store on a rainy day, and as she was perusing products, she could feel the rain hitting the products as it leaked through missing ceiling tiles.
“It was a deplorable situation, and there were tons of Black women shopping in there.”
This is just one situation that propelled Monroe to act. She recalls the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests, and seeing videos of Black women being harassed by non-Black beauty supply store owners, as calls to action.
“Being able to sit still, having those experiences really made me say ‘this is something that the market is missing, and this is something that Black women deserve,’” Monroe said.
“There’s been this whole push for Black women, for us to say ‘it’s just not okay for us to be resilient, or for us to be the strong people, or for us to get the wrong end of the stick all the time,’” Monroe said.
Pink Noire heavily emphasizes a “Black girl luxury” aesthetic, because Monroe said she feels as if it’s time for Black women to be celebrated.
“I felt it was important to have a place, even if it was just for a few minutes, where you feel important, and you feel valued, and you know we got your back.”