By Aditi Maheshwari
In February, Nordstrom celebrates Black-owned and founded brands through the company’s shoppable Black-Owned and Black-Founded categories.
“We invite our customers, employees, and brand partners to join us in honouring the Black community, rejoicing in Black culture, and amplifying Black voices this month and year-round,” said Farrell Redwine, chief human resources officer at Nordstrom. “We’ve long believed in the value of diversity and remain committed to playing an active role in contributing to the positive change required to address systemic racial inequity.”
Meet a few founders highlighted this month:
Teri Johnson is the founder and CEO of Harlem Candle Co. The luxury home fragrance brand specialized in scented candles inspired by the richness of Harlem and was founded in 2014 as a manifestation of her love affair with fragrance, jazz, and Harlem. She creates transportive, evocative candles inspired by Harlem Renaissance luminaries like Josephine Baker, Billie Holiday, Langston Hughes, and James Baldwin.
William Adosai, founder of Vitae London, a British watch and accessories brand founded in 2015, offers high-quality, fashion-forward watches at an accessible price. A portion of the revenue supports children’s education in Sub-Saharan Africa with each sale. It provides an underprivileged child with either a set of school uniforms to attend a school or a solar-powered lamp so that they may have a renewable energy light source to educate the young population.
Jasmine Walker, founder and designer of King+Lola, a children’s clothing and accessories brand that offers perfect gift items for baby showers and milestone birthdays. The brand provides eco-friendly luxury products that combine upcycled materials to make quality garments.
The Nordstrom NYC flagship will launch an in-store market with Black-Owned Brooklyn, a digital publication spotlighting Black-owned, Brooklyn-based business, as part of its revolving Center Stage pop-up platform from February 14 to March 6. Black-Owned Brooklyn’s husband-and-wife team curates Tayo Giwa’s market and Cynthia Gordy Giwa. The market brings together apparel, food, home goods, and self-care products. Customers are invited to know the people behind the businesses, including Chen Burkett, New York, Savant Studios, Heavy Metals NYC, Breukelen Polished, Modish Decor Pillows, Sarep + Rose, Brooklyn Brewed Sorrel, and Sol Cacao.
Nordstrom will also be showcase recipes created by Angel Gregorio, founder of the Spice Suite, including her Soul Food Stew in restaurants and a Jerk Pasta Salad in speciality coffee bars— from January 31 – February 28, in celebration of Black food culture. The Spice Suite is a spice and kitchenware shop in Washington D.C., where Gregorio has hosted more than 450 free pop-up shops for Black business owners. Her love for flavours and natural talent in the kitchen landed her in the Top 40 of MasterChef’s Season 8.
The Nordstrom NYC flagship will offer a pop-up by Brooklyn-based Patsy’s Rum Cake – perfect for the upcoming Valentine’s Day. Founder Kathy will be in-store on February 5, 6, 11, and 12 to share her handmade Caribbean rum cakes, including heart-shaped and mini sizes and flavours like rum raisin, walnut, coconut, and chocolate.
Nordstrom continues their commitment by increasing charitable donations to organizations that promote anti-racism to $1M per year. This includes a long-term, multi-year partnership with the National Urban League. Nordstrom is sponsoring The Black Joy Parade, a non-profit based in Oakland, California, that celebrates the Black experience and community’s influence on past, present, and future cultures. Nordstrom’s celebration of and commitment to the Black community goes far beyond Black History Month. The fashion retailer promised to address 2025 goals by creating its most pressing diversity, inclusion, and belonging opportunities. Among other things, these goals address:
- Increasing Black and Latinx representation among its managers by at least 50 percent, which is currently at 30%
- Delivering $500M in retail sales from brands owned by, operated by, or designed by Black and/or Latinx individuals.
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