ABOUT SHOPBLACKCT

ShopBlackCT is a volunteer initiative and not-for-profit website featuring 1,700+ Black-owned businesses ​in Connecticut.

Free to list. Free to browse.

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THE VOTES ARE IN!
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF THE WINNERS!!

WINNERS:

Arts, Entertainment & Events: Royal Lilac Photo & Design
Food: Sugar & Cream Cake Studio
Health, Wellness & Beauty: DaddyButter
Retail: ReFramed By Nikki
Professional Services: Lauren Simone Publishing House
Non-Profit: Angel of Edgewood, Inc.

FEATURED BUSINESSES

HEAVENLY HAIR PRODUCTS
BRIDGEPORT/EXCLUSIVELY ONLINE

Photo: Larianne Tide (Photography By LarJ)
It’s often said that there’s no love like a mother’s love. After Val McCray, owner of Heavenly Hair Growth Oil, underwent back surgery in 2019 and soon after suffered a heart attack, her mother was so worried about her daughter’s health that she began to suffer from hair loss. What followed was a launch of a new product line that has helped her mother and many others.

JUST MAD VEGGIES
OAKVILLE

Photo: Shariffah Mason (Reef's Views)
Having learned how to tend garden from his father at a young age, Elijah Boles always had a passion for growing fruits and vegetables. In December 2020, he launched Just Mad Veggies, an Oakville-based gardening and apparel business that, just like his garden, continues to grow.

LIFER FITNESS STUDIO
WEST HARTFORD

Photo: Leaja Johnson (Exhibit Leaja)
Debra Fountain has been in the fitness industry for over 25 years. Previously a personal trainer, group fitness instructor and fitness coach, she now owns LIFER Fitness Studio in West Hartford, Connecticut, where she offers cardio, strength training and yoga classes.

OVELLE COFFEE
EXCLUSIVELY ONLINE

Photo: Seshu Badnirath (Connecticut Headshots)
On a visit to Jamaica during their honeymoon, Sasha and Ian Fay were so captivated by the smooth taste, the lack of acidity, chocolatey notes and the health benefits of Blue Mountain coffee that they decided to bring it back to Connecticut. In 2020, they launched their West Hartford home-based business.

GET IN WITH KIM
BRIDGEPORT

Photo: Larianne Tide (Photography By LarJ)
Kim Vendryes-Martin, owner of Get In With Kim, views real estate ownership as more than a transaction; it is a life experience that should be equally available to everyone. Her strength is helping people who may be afraid of commitment to real estate to understand that it can facilitate them to get what they want. 

SO BLACK CANDLE Co.
EXCLUSIVELY ONLINE

Photo: Brenda De Los Santos Photography
Kylah Chadwick, owner and creative force behind online business So Black Candle Co., combined her love for candles with elements of Black culture to create the business in September of 2020.

UNIQUELY CLEANED
NAUGATUCK

Photo: Shariffah Mason (Reef's Views)
Uniquely Cleaned, a residential and commercial cleaning service based in Naugatuck, is a typical family business at heart--but the family that started it is pushing things beyond the norm.

CARROT TOP'S SWEET POTATO TREATS
EXCLUSIVELY ONLINE

Photo: Larianne Tide (Photography By LarJ)
After Yolanda Hart made a sweet potato pie just like her mother used to make, and then a sweet potato cake from her great-grandmother's recipe, she started her businesses, Carrot Top's Sweet Potato Treats, where she now crafts heartfelt sweet treats for all.

GOLDEN ADORNS ARTISTRY
EXCLUSIVELY ONLINE

Photo: Shariffah Mason (Reef's Views)
Instead of being stuck in a let-down of post-vacation blues, Alisha Moten used her experience as a catalyst and inspiration to launch her West Haven-based online business while on a four-month pandemic-induced job furlough in 2020.

BLING'D BY KAILA
EXCLUSIVELY ONLINE

Photo: Meghan Olson Photography
Shian Earlington is proof that the most beautiful diamonds are created under pressure. At just 20 years old, Earlington is a biochemistry major, community advocate, activist, K-12 STEM tutor, Get LIT Teens Podcast co-host and a business owner. 

THE GREEN ROOM
NEW LONDON

Photo: Brenda De Los Santos Photography
At The Green Room, it’s all about family. Co-owners Jonai Phillips, Tondra Bryant and Shakim Outler wanted to create something for their community by their community, where patrons could feel like they were at their home away from home.

MGI FIRE-ARMS
WATERBURY

Photo: Terrence Irving Photography
MGI Fire-Arms is the result of two things Ricardo Gibson loves: firearms and teaching. In addition to being a Waterbury school teacher, he launched his business during the height of the pandemic.

CHERROn's BEAUTY SUPPLY
WATERBURY

Photo: Shariffah Mason (Reef's Views)
Beauty can go a long way, and Waterbury business owner Cherron Freeman is making sure every customer that visits her store leaves feeling even more beautiful then when they walked in.

REFRAMED BY NIKKI
NORTH HAVEN

Photo: Meghan Olson Photography
​Launched in August 2020, ReFramed by Nikki is an eyewear business located in North Haven, Connecticut. Owner Nicole Forbes-Shaw—who goes by “Nikki”—is a nurse by trade who believes that patient care should be a nurse’s first priority.

NUTMEG HOMES
MIDDLETOWN

Photo: Rebecca Bloomfield Photography
Through her business, Nutmeg Homes, Sara Kennedy is striving to help as many people as possible, especially people of color who have much less generational wealth. Her biggest goal in life is to change that.

FRESH START CLEANING CT
AVON

Photo courtesy of Fresh Start Cleaning CT
DShaun Williams is following in his father’s footsteps, literally. Born and raised in Hartford, his dad showed him from an early age what hard work and perseverance looked like. Now more than 15 years later, Williams has started his own business, and it's taking off.

OH D'LUXE CANDLE + CO.
EXCLUSIVELY ONLINE

Photo: Terrence Irving Photography
Oddette Staple-Brown, an amazing candle making guru, launched Oh D’Luxe Candle + Co., a growing online company based in Bridgeport,  in the heart of the pandemic. What's followed is growth, gratitude and a whole lot of great scents.

LOVE ON YOU
NORWICH

Photo: Brenda De Los Santos Photography
Brittany Curry has taken a winding journey to create Love on You, a Norwich-based hub for women to pamper themselves with salon services, learn how to care for their hair and scalp, and purchase the products they need to do so.

IT'$ MY MONEY
WINDSOR

Photo: Meghan Olson Photography
Patrina Dixon, award-winning author, financial education instructor, “dualprenuer” businesswoman of P. Dixon Consulting, LLC has created an It’$ My Money, a business specially designed to help provide clear, helpful pathways to better spending and budgeting. ​

BIKRAM YOGA SIMSBURY
SIMSBURY

Photo: Seshu Photography
Once Richard Mercer took a Bikram yoga class, he was hooked. Tucked away on a side road in Simsbury sits Mercer’s yoga studio, which he runs with his wife, Laurie. For 11 years, he’s been offering yoga classes to help provide mental clarity, peace, strength, balance and fitness for hundreds of people. ​

ASSURGENT HEALING
AVON

Photo: Seshu Photography
​Felicia Edwards is a creative. She always had her heart set on becoming a psychologist, but knowing she wanted to go beyond the four walls of a traditional clinical setting and, quite literally, get up and moving while helping people, she began forging her own path during her undergraduate years.

SUPPORTING 1,718 businesses and growing!

95% of businesses owners surveyed said ShopBlackCT is helpful for CT Black-owned businesses.

83% reported more exposure, increase in sales or new connections to other business owners thanks to ShopBlackCT.
"Without ShopBlackCT.com I wouldn't have that big showcase I have now. My business has increased 15%."

- Reggie White, Crab Shack King, A Touch of Soul
​
“ShopBlackCT.com has been a real vessel for bringing visibility to our Black-owned businesses, giving us the services of taking pictures and doing articles that we can use as marketing material and share with our networks and theirs.”

- Khamani Harrison, The Key Bookstore
​
“They have dedicated their time and their resources to create a platform that has been very instrumental in the growth of my business and the growth of many other Black-owned businesses in Connecticut. A lot of times us small business owners don’t have the means to get our names out there, but this platform was created to do that. It was so needed.”

- Shawnee Rochester, Escape Massage & Esthetics Studio
​
“The positive image, the positivity coming out of ShopBlackCT.com is so powerful and such a great movement that as a Black-owned, veteran-owned business myself I get to show my sons this great positive image and I love it.”

- Chef Jay, Fud, Inc. & Baby J's Spices
"ShopBlackCT.com has been a blessing for our business. ShopBlackCT.com helped us gain greater exposure within our local area and started a conversation around our story, our value and how we were working to uplift our community." 
​
​- Nakia Kearse, Your CBD Store Simsbury
​
"Business has increased since the launch of ShopBlackCT.com. My BBQ bowl sales have jumped."
​
- James Hanton, The Singing Sliders
​

UPCOMING EVENTS

SHOPBLACKCT.COM BLOG

SHOPBLACKCT.COM, YWCA HARTFORD REGION JOIN FORCES TO DRIVE CONSUMERS TO LOCAL BLACK-OWNED BEAUTY BUSINESSES

The CROWN Act, which stands for “Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair,” is a law that prohibits race-based hair discrimination, which is the denial of employment and educational opportunities because of hair texture or protective hairstyles including braids, locs, twists or bantu knots. To celebrate, many CT Black-owned businesses are offering a special discount through the end of March and we've got the list! 

MENTAL HEALTH CARE IN BLACK COMMUNITIES: DEFEATING THE STIGMA

By Rode Bataille
Mental Health America explains that “historical adversity, which includes slavery, sharecropping, and race-based exclusion from health, educational, social, and economic resources translates into socioeconomic disparities experienced by Black and African American people today.” Socioeconomic status, in turn, is linked to mental health: People who are impoverished, homeless, incarcerated, or have substance use problems are at higher risk for poor mental health.

THE ECONOMICS OF RACISM

By Yvette Young
People often ask, why does ShopBlackCT.com only focus on Black-owned businesses? The quick answer is because of the impact systemic racism has had on the Black community.

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