Korean BSS Topic Agains: Black-owned Entrepreneur Interviews

[SmilingElephant]

Just like there's going to be an International Bank Transfer Day on November 5th, we need to organize a "Ban Korea" day. We need to go Occupy Beauty Supply Store on their a$$es!



That's the issue. I know WE (here on LHCF) can do it, not sure about the rest of the American Black hair population.



Lord, I had no idea! Guess I'd have to rely on online shopping more.

I bet if YouTubers like Elle (denimpixie), empressri, westNDNbeauty....and a boat load of others....i mean even She Who Must Not Be Named (sp?)...got the word out about avoiding Asian BSS's...it would trickle down....look at how this Natural hair thing took off! And now its EVERYWHERE! True women were already Natural b4 it took off....and true women will still relax their hair...but i just think back to when i didnt even know i had an option to go "natural"....i had NO knowledge about Natural hair...even when i started here i thought i HAD to have a relaxer....but not only bc of this hair board...but bc i started seeing more and more women BC'ing IRL...bc of what trickled from the internet....you know what i mean?

It can work

 

[Raspberry]

this is awesome! i would definitely join an official boycott and would encourage others to do so as well. i would do promo on my twitter-- and be willing to try to recruit bloggers down for the cause.

my thing is, you would have to clearly state alternatives for women who do rely on their local BSS. And the alternatives have to be cost effective. We can't expect people to stop their BSS habit AND spend more. Just not gonna happen.

I agree.. I tell them Sally's.. (Sally's isn't Korean owned). Also, most large grocery stores have a wide variety of hair products including "ethnic" ones. I shop at Wegman's and their prices on hair products are reasonable, I buy Matrix and Rusk stuff from them as well. There's also WalMart.. some people don't like WalMart but one battle at a time .

Foundational hair education is key though, once black women learn that their hair doesn't need a Dr. Miracle potion to thrive, they think of products differently and not assume Garnier won't work. Not to mention coconut oil, castor oil, shea butter, etc. is available at many grocery stores and health food/organic stores (Trader Joes, etc.)

 

[naturalmanenyc]

I've always heard the beauty supply industry was like the mob.

I have yet to see a Black Owned Beauty Supply store in Brooklyn or Manhattan. Any BSS that I have walked into may have 5 - 10 Black employees but the register is always run by Koreans and there is almost always a Korean person supervising the employees.

I'm not sure if as many people as we think are using the BSS. I'm natural and can get most of my products from Target, Walgreen's, CVS, Walmart and other such stores. And of course there is Sephora and Ulta. I really do not need to go to the local BSS anymore. I mostly used the BSS for bulk braiding hair and wigs.

 

[SmilingElephant]

I want to know.....besides weave....what is it that you HAVE to get from the Asian BSS??

I guess Dominican Products?

Honestly i only run into a BSS for things like nite caps, beanies, cheap accessories and things like that.

What is it that Black owned BSS's need to offer that Asian BSS's don't? I'm trying to stop thinking as just a natural head...help me out here ladies!

 

[Raspberry]

I'm not sure if as many people as we think are using the BSS. I'm natural and can get most of my products from Target, Walgreen's, CVS, Walmart and other such stores. And of course there is Sephora and Ulta. I really do not need to go to the local BSS anymore. I mostly used the BSS for bulk braiding hair and wigs.

Well I think we have to acknowledge that Asian owned BSSs have the biggest stronghold in low income areas and they thrive off of the customers' lack of hair education and low confidence in their hair. Not to mention convenience.. in the hood the BSS is usually a closer distance than Walgreen's.

I want to know.....besides weave....what is it that you HAVE to get from the Asian BSS??

SmilingElephant
Now that I think about it.. it's got to be the variety of weaving hair and cheap wigs.. that sets the BSS apart from anywhere else.

 

[greenandchic]

I bet if YouTubers like Elle (denimpixie), empressri, westNDNbeauty....and a boat load of others....i mean even She Who Must Not Be Named (sp?)...got the word out about avoiding Asian BSS's...it would trickle down....look at how this Natural hair thing took off! And now its EVERYWHERE! True women were already Natural b4 it took off....and true women will still relax their hair...but i just think back to when i didnt even know i had an option to go "natural"....i had NO knowledge about Natural hair...even when i started here i thought i HAD to have a relaxer....but not only bc of this hair board...but bc i started seeing more and more women BC'ing IRL...bc of what trickled from the internet....you know what i mean?

It can work

Good point! I mean, we have the NY Times, HuffPost and a host of local news organizations writing multiple articles about our hair because of us. I'm sure we can make a dent of the BSS market if we were willing to be creative.

 

[greenandchic]

I agree.. I tell them Sally's.. (Sally's isn't Korean owned). Also, most large grocery stores have a wide variety of hair products including "ethnic" ones. I shop at Wegman's and their prices on hair products are reasonable, I buy Matrix and Rusk stuff from them as well. There's also WalMart.. some people don't like WalMart but one battle at a time .

Foundational hair education is key though, once black women learn that their hair doesn't need a Dr. Miracle potion to thrive, they think of products differently and not assume Garnier won't work. Not to mention coconut oil, castor oil, shea butter, etc. is available at many grocery stores and health food/organic stores (Trader Joes, etc.)

When it comes to BSSes, I think the issue is more the weaves. What percentage of the sales are actually hair vs hair products?

 

[beana]

I dont respect people who dont respect me, that being said...I'm ready to do whatever it takes to drive these "businesses" away.

One thing I dont understand is how the product distributors mentioned in this article are made to seem like theyre small companies, most beauty brands are owned by major companies like Loreal. Are the factories that produce these products in Korea? If so, I can totally see how they dominate the market. If not, these black owned BSS need to file a suit against the larger comapnies for refusing to do business with them.

Also most of the hair we buy in the store and online comes from China and you can buy direct and get wholesale pricing, I would advise black owned BSS' to get on it and reclaim the industry!!!

 

[Raspberry]

It's hard for me to believe that internet hair advice and the natural hair movement hasn't put a dent in BSS profits... I wish there were stats on that. Most of us used to go to the BSS but now give our money to someone else.

 

[ellebelle88]

I'm down for whatever we can come up with. Would organizing a national week of protest on Facebook be beneficial? Like if we said no one should shop at Asian-owned BSS during a particular week?

 

[Raspberry]

When it comes to BSSes, I think the issue is more the weaves. What percentage of the sales are actually hair vs hair products?

Also most of the hair we buy in the store and online comes from China and you can buy direct and get wholesale pricing, I would adbvise black owned BSS' to get on it and reclaim the industry!!!

I guess a lot of black women are held hostage by the Asians because of weave/wig addiction. There's nothing wrong with wearing your hair how you want but it's hard to focus on black owned when you have to have that perfect Indian hair shipped from China. I"m not sure how black business can compete in the weave market..

 

[ellebelle88]

It's hard for me to believe that internet hair advice and the natural hair movement hasn't put a dent in BSS profits... I wish there were stats on that. Most of us used to go to the BSS but now give our money to someone else.

I don't think the "Natural" trend has affected the BSS much at all since when people transition or go natural they are buying a bunch of products trying to figure out what works on their hair. Also during the transition phase, people rock wigs, sew-ins, and braided styles. Even after the transition, people still do these styles because they are low-maintenance styles.

 

[Tamster]

#StoptheBSS! How does that sound?

I wonder if there is even one black owned weave company...

 

[SmilingElephant]

It's hard for me to believe that internet hair advice and the natural hair movement hasn't put a dent in BSS profits... I wish there were stats on that. Most of us used to go to the BSS but now give our money to someone else.

That's true....i often wondered how they are able to still keep afloat? But the BSS i mentioned earlier that i go to...they sell things like Kinky-Curly, Taaliah Waajhidn (sp?) , Carol's Daughter, Mixed Chicks, Curls....in that store....so i guess they are making money that way....but the thing is...can we get these Brands to stop distributing their stuff to Asian BSS's....and only to the Black owned BSS's....or limit their supply BIG time to the Asian BSS's....but the thing is...the Black community itself has to be able to work with each other almost like how the Asians do...but do it right...bc the Law is always watching what Black people do.

 

[SmilingElephant]

I'm down for whatever we can come up with. Would organizing a national week of protest on Facebook be beneficial? Like if we said no one should shop at Asian-owned BSS during a particular week?

With the Billions of dollars coming out of the many pockets of Black ppl going to Asian BSS's...this needs to go on for about 3-6 months....they need to FEEL it!

 

[Tamster]

I tweeted about this and in.... 2 minutes ive already gotten 6 girls to say they would boycott and talk about it. im just saying..

 

[SmilingElephant]

I tweeted about this and in.... 2 minutes ive already gotten 6 girls to say they would boycott and talk about it. im just saying..

What did you tweet? Just #StoptheBSS?? If we can get one uniform tweet....and we all keep retweeting it....it should eventually start trending

 

[Rocky91]

I'm down for whatever we can come up with. Would organizing a national week of protest on Facebook be beneficial? Like if we said no one should shop at Asian-owned BSS during a particular week?

I like this a lot! A week would be easy enough to do.

This whole article really disgusted me. Welp...clearly it's the source that's the problem. If black owned beauty supply stores are going to succeed, they'd need to find black owned distributors.

 

[SmilingElephant]

Lol!!! tamz412...i just tweeted #StoptheBss and clicked on it looking for your tweet! It wasn't there....what did you tweet?

I'm @ Truest0ry

 

[WhippedButterCreme]

It should be a facebook page...and twitter is a great idea too!

 

[Tamster]

What did you tweet? Just #StoptheBSS?? If we can get one uniform tweet....and we all keep retweeting it....it should eventually start trending

no i didnt tweet that, i didnt want to use a hashtag until we decided on one so that we could have a uniform message.

all i said was "anyone willing to join me in a boycott against Asian owned BSS?"

lol. and the convo popped off.

 

[greenandchic]

That's true....i often wondered how they are able to still keep afloat? But the BSS i mentioned earlier that i go to...they sell things like Kinky-Curly, Taaliah Waajhidn (sp?) , Carol's Daughter, Mixed Chicks, Curls....in that store....so i guess they are making money that way....but the thing is...can we get these Brands to stop distributing their stuff to Asian BSS's....and only to the Black owned BSS's....or limit their supply BIG time to the Asian BSS's....but the thing is...the Black community itself has to be able to work with each other almost like how the Asians do...but do it right...bc the Law is always watching what Black people do.

But how many BSS actually sell those brands? The most "natural" hair care product I've ever seen in a traditional Korean BSS is Mixed Chicks (behind the counter under lock & key mind you).

 

[SmilingElephant]

no i didnt tweet that, i didnt want to use a hashtag until we decided on one so that we could have a uniform message.

all i said was "anyone willing to join me in a boycott against Asian owned BSS?"

lol. and the convo popped off.

....now i feel all .______. inside

So that should be our tweet then...Anyone willing to join me in a boycott against Asian owned BSS?? #StoptheBSS or #OccupyBlackHair...somethin like that.

 

[beebstt]

i completely support this! someone tag me if you have a campaign going and need support. since lhcf, i have been going the bss route less and less, but yes, i also feel that same feeling of condescension that the koreans give off when you go in their store. nowadays i usually use natural products from vitacost, african people (shea butter), and coconut oil on my hair.

 

[SmilingElephant]

Well me and tamz412 already started tweeting....tamz i retweeted your tweet...but we need a hashtag....only one right now that we will all use repeatedly to get it to start trending

 

[Tamster]

I dont think we should start really tweeting about it yet because we dont have a coherent message + alternatives yet... maybe a bit more discussiion first.

 

[SmilingElephant]

Check out this experience too! http://www.curlycopia.com/hair-hurd...op-at-asian-owned-beauty-supply-stores-again/

Shout out to our Guitarhero for starting this thread yo!

 

[SmilingElephant]

Wait...its Sunday....isn't their usually #Naturalhair chat on sundays?? Anybody else on Twitter reading this down with this as a topic?

Where is MissLizziA? aka StrawberriCurls....i feel like i'm spelling everything wrong tonite!

 

[Tamster]

Wait...its Sunday....isn't their usually #Naturalhair chat on sundays?? Anybody else on Twitter reading this down with this as a topic?

Where is MissLizziA? aka StrawberriCurls....i feel like i'm spelling everything wrong tonite!

wait lets wait til next sunday!! so we can get our information more together and recruit more people to tweet about it during the chat.

 

[Kn0ttyByNatur3]

This was a sad article to read. Makes me feel like us blacks don't have anything to truly call ours. Can't even call the shots on how to take care of our hair.


I am down for the boycott. *** the BBS store!