Bay Area Small Business Group Says Shop Small, Think Big on Black Friday
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) -- A group of activists and store owners is asking shoppers to help them reclaim Black Friday. Local shops will forego traditional discounts and instead offer a percentage of sales to Black and Indigenous organizations.
2020 has been a year unlike any other, defined largely by discomfort. As we settle into the comfortable familiarity of holiday traditions, a group of local shop owners wants to make sure we keep difficult conversations on the table.
"If we want systemic change we must deconstruct, rethink and rebuild to create more just systems," said Manpreet Kalra, an organizer of the Reclaim Black Friday campaign.
Participating small businesses will not offer any discounts. Instead, they'll redistribute a minimum of 10 percent of sales to Black and Indigenous land-based organizations.
Chloe Jackman is a photographer in San Francisco. She says that, during the protests this spring following George Floyd's death, Black-owned businesses like hers saw a surge.
"There was a crazy influx, products were flying off the shelves and then it goes quiet because it was just a moment," Jackman said.
She wants to make sure 2020 isn't a flash in the pan.
Rachel Faller owns Tonle in San Francisco's Richmond District. Fifteen percent of her sales this weekend will go to Black farmers and an indigenous land-based group in Santa Cruz.
"We want to get people to slow down, think about what they're purchasing -- where those funds are going," Faller said.
2020 has been tough but has also brought out some introspection and tough conversations and this campaign is an opportunity to keep those conversations current.
"It's been a year of uncomfortable conversation but conversation alone is not enough we have to take action," Kalra said.
Ways to participate and participating businesses can be found at Reclaim Black Friday
