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| From: L M | Posted: Jun-22-2000 6:46 pm | Msg: 16E5 |
| Subject: [BlackTresses] The Economics of Hair (page 3 of 4) | ||
| PEACE: FYI LM --------- fwrd The Economics of Hair How did African Americans lose control of the billion-dollar black hair-care industry?=20=20=20=20 by Sherri Day page 3 of 4=20=20 By 1954, George E. Johnson had become the father of the modern ethnic hair-care industry. By adding emulsifiers to the existing crude formula for conkolene, Johnson made the chemical straightening process much less painful. In 1971, his Johnson Products Company became the first black-owned firm to be listed on a major stock exchange. Twenty-two years later, the company was sold to the white-owned Ivax Corporation. Presently only four of the country's top ten hair-care-product manufacturers are black- owned. The full-color glossy magazine Beauty Times is packed with news about the latest black hair-care trends. All of its articles are written entirely in Korean. So are its advertisements, depicting black models with braided hair or freshly conked tresses. The magazine's existence indicates that, from the laboratory where products are made to the outlets in which they are sold, it's a new day in black hair care. Koreans first entered the beauty-supply business in the 1970s=96a time that saw significant Korean immigration to the United States. Most of them initially sought employment in fields where they would not be required to speak much English. They were also looking for a niche that had not already been filled by other immigrant groups. The African-American beauty-supply store industry turned out to be ideal: communicating with customers could be minimal, and it would cost only between $150,000 and $200,000 to stock a store. "In this market, there was no big retail player," says Beauty Times marketing director Sohey Ahn from her St. Louis office. "That's why it was easy for Korean people to get into the market." Koreans began banding together and pooling their resources to fund small business ventures. Through rotating credit associations=96whose members make regular contributions to a fund that is given in whole or in part to each member in rotation=96immigrant communities can circumvent the need for loans from banks and other lending institutions. Many black-owned beauty supply stores went out of business in the early 1980s, when Korean business owners formed buying clubs and purchased hair-care products in bulk. This allowed them to sell the same products that were found in black-owned stores at significantly lower prices. Chris Kim and his family immigrated from Korea in 1987 to Concord, where his sister was operating a pizza-delivery business. The family wanted to expand the business into a seven-store franchise but only three of the pizza outlets were successful so, in 1991, Kim decided to go to school. He entered the College of Alameda and took general education courses=96and, for fun, a course in cosmetology. It paid off. Kim saw an advertisement in a Korean newspaper for a managerial position at a San Francisco beauty-supply store. By 1997, he had enough experience to land the job at Glamor. "I like hanging out with black folks," Kim says. "Sometimes they're very sensitive but not tough like white folks. Their personality is very similar to Koreans. Sometimes we have an argument with the customers and the next day they come in and say, `Hey Chris.' They don't hold it against you." Kim claims that in the two years he's worked at Glamor=96which he says made $1 million in sales last year=96customers have only complained about his product recommendations twice. He learned how most of the products work by reading the directions on the packaging. But Kim also depends heavily on African-American beauticians and customers who frequent the store to tell him which products are most effective. He will always need this kind of advice, since his hair has a different texture than his black patrons'. Historically, black entrepreneurs have been nearly invisible in all forms of business except the service industry, which was the only sector open to them immediately after the end of slavery. In the hair-care industry, African Americans were able to flex their entrepreneurial muscles, enjoying business ownership and capitalizing on blacks' burgeoning beauty culture. It's an industry whose roots run deep, symbolizing for many blacks the pride of having their own and, during the days before integration, of being served by their own. But that has changed. Hair is important to people in the black community. As for why blacks are losing control of their own industry, which is worth noting=96that's a discussion to which mainstream America may never be privy. It's an internal debate=96like the one that whites have about the real reasons for "white flight" or whether white men really can't jump=96no outsiders allowed. In the black community, the hair thing is really about economics in the 'hood and why black-owned businesses are more likely to flop than flourish. Some say black business owners can't unite and work together as Asian Americans have done, for fear that one person might profit at another's expense. Others say black hair-care professionals lack a serious work ethic and cannot focus. Then there's the issue of actually getting black consumers to see the value in supporting their = =20 own. | ||