●Nineretailersin theU.S.andCanada,including
Macy’sInc.,SephoraUSAInc.,andWestElm,have
signedontoherpledge,which
asksthattheydedicate15%of
shelfspacetoproductsmade
byBlack-ownedbusinesses.AfterthepolicekillingofGeorge
Floyd in late May, James
watchedherinboxfillwithemails
and herInstagramfeedflood
withpostsfrombrandsdecry-
ingracism. Shewantedmore
thanplatitudes.“I neededtoreconcilethehurtI wasfeel-
ingasa BlackwomanandalsothefactthatI’ma business
owner,”saysJames,creativedirectorandfounderofshoe
andhandbaglineBrotherVelliesin Brooklyn,N.Y.“Thesetwo
sidesofmeneededtoconverge.”
Days later she’d made it happen. She used Instagram to
spread the idea of the pledge—15% because it’s roughly the
share of Black people among the U.S. population—and tagged
nine companies in her post to get their attention. Her targets
were Barnes & Noble, Home Depot, marijuana dispensary
MedMen, Net-a-Porter, Saks Fifth Avenue, Sephora, Target,
Walmart, and Whole Foods, businesses she said were “built
on Black spending power.”
For most companies, only 2% of merchandise on store
shelves is from Black-owned businesses, according to
research from the Fifteen Percent Pledge Foundation, the
nonprofit James founded shortly after announcing her cam-
paign. Many of them have had a disproportionately diffi-
cult time during the coronavirus pandemic, because such
businesses didn’t get loans from the Paycheck Protection
Program—a $350 billion government effort to keep workers
on payrolls—at the same rate as White-owned ones. Goldman
Sachs Group Inc. says 58% of Black business owners have
dipped into personal savings to stay operational, compared
with 33% of business owners overall.
James was raised in Jamaica and Guelph, an hour’s
drive from Toronto, and worked in mall retail, at a modeling
agency, and for Fashion Television. She studied journalism
at Ryerson University, then moved to the U.S. right before
Barack Obama’s first term began. Since 2013, James
has run Brother Vellies, which she started with $3,500 in
savings. She opened her store in Brooklyn’s Greenpointneighborhoodin2018.
Theretailersthatjoinedher
pledgearen’ttiedtoa timeline.
ButJamesworkswiththemto
findsmaller,Black-ownedcom-
paniesthatfittheirneeds.None
hashitthe15%threshold,but
BlackentrepreneurshavetoldherthatSephoraandWest
Elmtouchedbasedirectlyaboutorders,shesays.
SephoraandMedMenaretheonlyoriginaltargetsthat
signedon.InadditiontoWestElm,theothersareIndigo
Books& Musicin Toronto,RenttheRunway,Yelp,theU.S.edi-
tionofCondéNast’sVogue—and as of late November, InStyle
US and Macy’s, the largest retailer to sign on. Yelp will try to
have 15% of its lists focus on or include Black-owned busi-
nesses. On Instagram, James said of Vogue’s pledge, “Thank
you to Vogue for committing to hiring more Black freelance
photographers, writers, stylists, beauty teams, and models.”
She says one day she’d like to see a Black-owned business
that benefited from the pledge reach a $100 million valuation.
Analysts say it could appeal to shoppers who say they’re
more likely to spend with companies that share their values
on racial justice. “That potentially could be the catalyst to
help that retailer recover faster” from pandemic losses, says
Chadwick Roberson, vice president for investment manage-
ment and research at retail and consumer analyst Momentum
Advisors LLC.
James’s idea isn’t without critics. Some of the companies
that have signed on aren’t brick-and-mortar retailers with
shelf space to give. And some have noted that Black-owned
small businesses need financial resources to scale up before
they can fulfill orders for major retailers. James says the foun-
dation is working with its partners on a solution.
In the future, James wants venture capital firms to agree
tohavepledge-compliantportfolios.Butfornowshe’llcon-
tinuetorunherbusinesswhilehopping on Zoom calls with
CEOs who are interested in joining her cause. “In a year that’s
been so tough for so many people, having that opportunity
to have positivity is so worth it,” she says. �Jordyn HolmanBloomberg Businessweek December 7, 202044
AURORA
JAMES
FOUNDER,
FIFTEEN PERCENT
PLEDGE
B Photograph by
Lelanie Foster