Korean BSS Topic Agains: Black-owned Entrepreneur Interviews

[SmilingElephant]

there is already a BOBSA

http://www.bobsa.org/

I wonder how many Black BSS owners utilize them?

 

[Carmelella]

When you say "stop waiting for someone to do it for you"....where are you seeing that?

I don't see ppl saying anything about doing anything for us....if anything we're (i THOUGHT) were talking about different ways to be able to take back our own haircare industry into our hands as a community...ourselves.

I asked earlier about how would we go about finding our own source just like the Koreans have their own source.

I asked how can WE get weave ourselves without the Koreans being involved.

How can we get these successful practices of Black BSS owners across the country? Can seminars be held?

I don't see how we're looking for anyone to do anything for us. I'm SICK of ppl doing things for us...bc in reality...they're not

Lets focus on ideas...... Focus on ideas, make a plan...find the solution.

i read your post and I completely agreed with you and wasn't refering to your ideas. I think that is the exact type of mentality we need to succeed long term.

 

[JeterCrazed]

well thats disturbing because even with all that you are unable to do some critical thinking. lesigh.

I've sold my product in a BSS. Maybe making money is not longer considered critical thinking.

 

[Tamster]

I've sold my product in a BSS. Maybe making money is not longer considered critical thinking.

 

[Carmelella]

meh, my point is that they are not trying to work with us. BUT we shouldnt want them to. The whole point of this thread is NOT to make the Asians work with us but to become COMPLETELY independent.

I agree that racism is a factor. But maybe if find ways to produce our own products, use it to revitalize businesses in our community, maybe then we will be competite enough where they will be finding ways to make deals with us. If we want respect from a huge industry we got to come to the table with bigger offerings i suppose. And even if they refuse,... we will remain self sufficient.

 

[ms-gg]

I wonder how many Black BSS owners utilize them?

A lot. This has been around for a while now. If you are a Bobss, then 9/10, you know about them.

 

[SmilingElephant]

and why NOT have it in all korean?? there's that entitlement thing I'm talking about. Only Americans and english speaking countires wholeheartedly believe that English is the language of the world. If you want something that I got and I've worked hard to put myself in the position where your patronage doesn't really matter to me... why must I cater to you. If you want it bad enough... learn korean. Pay a korean translator $500 to help initiate your business ties with this new company. Other industries do it all the time. My friend, a black girl, learned Japanese and majored in foreign relations/linguistics. Now she works for other businesses as a translator. Even in nursing I applied for so many city jobs and the first question was "do you speak spanish"... no spanish,.. no job.

Even in small business, nothing gets handed to you unless you are willing to pay a STEEP price. scratch "small business", and make that life.

I agree w/you on that. I can say that is needed for us to be able to get our own supply of weave and whatnot. But im trying to find a way to keep us away from the Koreans PERIOD. We do our thing....they do theirs.

Im gonna go to bed now ya'll...class in the morning

Love ya'll! Goodnite!

 

[Tamster]

I agree that racism is a factor. But maybe if find ways to produce our own products, use it to revitalize businesses in our community, maybe then we will be competite enough where they will be finding ways to make deals with us. If we want respect from a huge industry we got to come to the table with bigger offerings i suppose. And even if they refuse,... we will remain self sufficient.

HENCE a boycott of the asian BSS and buying products from black owned biz!! the whole entire point of this thread before it got derailed.

BTW there are plenty of black folk making great products.. they are online and what not,just fyi. we gotta support our own.

 

[JeterCrazed]

and why NOT have it in all korean?? there's that entitlement thing I'm talking about. Only Americans and english speaking countires wholeheartedly believe that English is the language of the world. If you want something that I got and I've worked hard to put myself in the position where your patronage doesn't really matter to me... why must I cater to you. If you want it bad enough... learn korean. Pay a korean translator $500 to help initiate your business ties with this new company. Other industries do it all the time. My friend, a black girl, learned Japanese and majored in foreign relations/linguistics. Now she works for other businesses as a translator. Even in nursing I applied for so many city jobs and the first question was "do you speak spanish"... no spanish,.. no job.

Even in small business, nothing gets handed to you unless you are willing to pay a STEEP price. scratch "small business", and make that life.

After all, the Korean man learned English, right?
My mother picked cotton and lima beans in Mississippi for $13/ wk for a white family. I'll be damned if I sit here moaning that some person caused me to not be successful. 1st Gen Master's degree holder and I will be whippin' my hair on graduation day in May. People complaining that something was taken from them and they're selling it! Hair is in India! You want hair? Go to Kerala and get it! You say your people are enslaved, speak for yourself. I'm free to be whatever I want, including BSS owner.

 

[JeterCrazed]

NOW we're gettin somewhere.....

Now what we need to do....is find more Black owned BSS's and get them and these ppl to correspond with each other on how to improve their skills...but we still need to contact companies, distributors, etc...we need to connect the whole machine together to get it up and running.

You don't think these people are already well connected?
What do you think they're doing at Bronner Brothers every year?

 

[JeterCrazed]

I agree w/you on that. I can say that is needed for us to be able to get our own supply of weave and whatnot. But im trying to find a way to keep us away from the Koreans PERIOD. We do our thing....they do theirs.

Im gonna go to bed now ya'll...class in the morning

Love ya'll! Goodnite!

You do realize that the hair on a lot of them track come off of a Korean head...

 

[SmilingElephant]

You do realize that the hair on a lot of them track come off of a Korean head...

But not all of it does.

 

[Mo to the...]

This is my first post (ever). I've been lurking for 4 years and have enjoyed every minute of it. I had to pay so I could post in this thread. I absolutely LOVE the passion here. I am so on board for whatever and will do whatever I need to in order to help.

JeterCrazed
We get it. Black people didn't work hard enough, black people didn't learn korean, black people sold their businesses, etc, etc, etc. Can you please stop with all the negativity and condescending comments? The whole point of this thread was to CONSTRUCTIVELY critique where WE went wrong and to ACTIVELY come up with ways (also known as a strategic plan) to get back on track. Everybody here knows the history of Black Americans and that none of this happened over night and it wasn't all one groups fault but what you are doing is destroying the overall theme of this thread. Please stop. If your mama worked hard and gave you everything and you worked and have everything and don't see the issues that many people in this thread see and want to fix then why are you even in this thread?? Your previous comments are very clear in your viewpoint and WE GET IT!!! Now, can you please stop so everyone else can continue with their POSITIVE CONSTRUCTIVE conversations about what can be done to fix the huge problem that we had a hand in creating but did not completely do by ourselves?

 

[Carmelella]

HENCE a boycott of the asian BSS and buying products from black owned biz!! the whole entire point of this thread before it got derailed.

BTW there are plenty of black folk making great products.. they are online and what not,just fyi. we gotta support our own.

You don't have to blatantly boycott one business for another one to succeed. Concentrate on building a good black business, do the groundwork, make the necessary sacrifices, put in the time, get the word out and you will succeed. If "black empress hair supply" succeeds at making a good product/running a good business, taking calculated risks, procuring starter loans etc, and their quality surpasses the quality of "yellow dragon hair supply",.. then my patronage will naturally change. But why boycott if we are not stepping up to provide something better/ on par,... or even if we are making it,.. not advertising well enough.

And no sarcasm at all, but I would really luv if we could start a list of great black hair products by category or business.

oh,.. and i keep on mentioning "price" because the other day I went to buy miss jessies curly pudding (she's black right?) and one jar was $28! How long does that thing really last. And obviously,.. that was the retail price, but retail price is usually reflective of the producer price. I'm going to assume that that company was looking for a high profit margin per unit sold instead of depending on mass sales/modest price to generate profit.

 

[JeterCrazed]

But not all of it does.

That is very true. Cutting them out would be more than just not shopping at there stores and and the very extremes, it become impractical. Are you gonna boycott products that use Korean chemical suppliers, too?

 

[Tamster]

You don't have to blatantly boycott one business for another one to succeed. Concentrate on building a good black business, do the groundwork, make the necessary sacrifices, put in the time, get the word out and you will succeed. If "black empress hair supply" succeeds at making a good product/running a good business, taking calculated risks, procuring starter loans etc, and their quality surpasses the quality of "yellow dragon hair supply",.. then my patronage will naturally change. But why boycott if we are not stepping up to provide something better/ on par,... or even if we are making it,.. not advertising well enough.

And no sarcasm at all, but I would really luv if we could start a list of great black hair products by category or business.

oh,.. and i keep on mentioning "price" because the other day I went to buy miss jessies curly pudding (she's black right?) and one jar was $28! How long does that thing really last. And obviously,.. that was the retail price, but retail price is usually reflective of the producer price. I'm going to assume that that company was looking for a high profit margin per unit sold instead of depending on mass sales/modest price to generate profit.

that list is a great idea.

I support a boycott because the koreans are racist. BSS are notorious for poor customer service, crap products, and as we have learned, purposefully try to keep black companies out of business.

I want to BOYCOTT - I DO NOT WANT TO GIVE THEM ANY MORE OF MY BLACK MONEY. I firmly believe that black people should be benefiting from my passion for my black hair... not some koreans who will turn around and spit in my face.

And on Miss Jessies... i think they are full of ish but thats for another thread.

ETA: you all do realize that you have to start somewhere right? a boycott of korean bss is manageable and doable. i see you trying to sabotage a good thing.

 

[Carmelella]

what does ETA stand for? is that me? i'm serious...

if it is me... definitely not wanting to sabotage anything. I'm not pro-korea or something... just thought our focus should be somewhere else.. but definitely not trying to change poeple's minds about boycotting stores that they feel disrespect them.

I personally am just on the lookout for some great new products and will do my part in helping to support them.

 

[SmilingElephant]

That is very true. Cutting them out would be more than just not shopping at there stores and and the very extremes, it become impractical. Are you gonna boycott products that use Korean chemical suppliers, too?

For me...I would. I'm to the point where I can make what need. My new body lotion is sweet almond oil. I never even wear weave.

All I'm saying is. I'm tired of the Asians taking advantage of us. We can nit pick all nite about what we as Black ppl suck at but what the heck does that do to fix it?? How are you gonna help? Are you Gonna help? This thread is looking for solutions. Not problems.

 

[JeterCrazed]

This is my first post (ever). I've been lurking for 4 years and have enjoyed every minute of it. I had to pay so I could post in this thread. I absolutely LOVE the passion here. I am so on board for whatever and will do whatever I need to in order to help.

@JeterCrazed
We get it. Black people didn't work hard enough, black people didn't learn korean, black people sold their businesses, etc, etc, etc. Can you please stop with all the negativity and condescending comments? The whole point of this thread was to CONSTRUCTIVELY critique where WE went wrong and to ACTIVELY come up with ways (also known as a strategic plan) to get back on track. Everybody here knows the history of Black Americans and that none of this happened over night and it wasn't all one groups fault but what you are doing is destroying the overall theme of this thread. Please stop. If your mama worked hard and gave you everything and you worked and have everything and don't see the issues that many people in this thread see and want to fix then why are you even in this thread?? Your previous comments are very clear in your viewpoint and WE GET IT!!! Now, can you please stop so everyone else can continue with their POSITIVE CONSTRUCTIVE conversations about what can be done to fix the huge problem that we had a hand in creating but did not completely do by ourselves?

This ENTIRE issue exists at the retail end of the industry. There is this whole conspiracy theory of why black BSS don't succeed. Ok. I get it. Koreans don't want to do business with us. Koreans are the cause that we can't even make our own perms. Ok... Miss Jessie is charging $57 for a large jar of moisturizer being marketed to her own people. She's doing quite well. Good for her! The sounds of this thread are to the liking of mob psychology. You think African Americans are the majority of the hair market worldwide? You think we're the sole income of Korean business? There are successful Black BSS! Koreans are not stopping them! Black businesses have summits and do band together in this industry. The reasons for failure has little to do with the "Korean Mafia." Why are they a priority?

 

[Mo to the...]

@ Carmelella
No disrespect (and I really means this) but if you are just looking for some products and think "just thought our focus should be somewhere else"why are you in this thread? Boycotting KBSS and brain storming ways to get back into a market is the focus so why would our focus be somewhere else? There are different threads dedicated to different topics. This one has a very specific theme and if you aren't really here for that (which is fine, not looking for consensus) then shouldn't you go where there are people giving what you are looking for? Again, no disrespect. I'm not saying you can't be here or don't have a right to be here. It's like a KKK meeting. I'm not going to attend because they aren't serving what I want. I'm not going to go and then talk about equality and why the white man isn't better. I hope you do not take this the wrong way.

 

[SmilingElephant]

This ENTIRE issue exists at the retail end of the industry. There is this whole conspiracy theory of why black BSS don't succeed. Ok. I get it. Koreans don't want to do business with us. Koreans are the cause that we can't even make our own perms. Ok... Miss Jessie is charging $57 for a large jar of moisturizer being marketed to her own people. She's doing quite well. Good for her! The sounds of this thread are to the liking of mob psychology. You think African Americans are the majority of the hair market worldwide? You think we're the sole income of Korean business? There are successful Black BSS! Koreans are not stopping them! Black businesses have summits and do band together in this industry. The reasons for failure has little to do with the "Korean Mafia." Why are they a priority?

Bc there's 3 of them in my hood and they are rude as hell and still expect us to give them our money even tho they treat us like $h!t....THAT'S why they're the priority.

It shouldn't BE that way and we need to fix it.

Now if this thread gets locked....we start anew.

 

[Tamster]

what does ETA stand for? is that me? i'm serious...

if it is me... definitely not wanting to sabotage anything. I'm not pro-korea or something... just thought our focus should be somewhere else.. but definitely not trying to change poeple's minds about boycotting stores that they feel disrespect them.

I personally am just on the lookout for some great new products and will do my part in helping to support them.

eta means edited to add.

 

[Mo to the...]

This ENTIRE issue exists at the retail end of the industry. There is this whole conspiracy theory of why black BSS don't succeed. Ok. I get it. Koreans don't want to do business with us. Koreans are the cause that we can't even make our own perms. Ok... Miss Jessie is charging $57 for a large jar of moisturizer being marketed to her own people. She's doing quite well. Good for her! The sounds of this thread are to the liking of mob psychology. You think African Americans are the majority of the hair market worldwide? You think we're the sole income of Korean business? There are successful Black BSS! Koreans are not stopping them! Black businesses have summits and do band together in this industry. The reasons for failure has little to do with the "Korean Mafia." Why are they a priority?

I never said:
-African Americans are the majority of the hair market
-There weren't successful black owned BSS stores
-Anything about a "Korean Mafia".


They are a priority (in this thread) because that's what the op started the thread about. This is an INDIVIDUAL thread talking about a SPECIFIC activity and group of people. Same example I gave Carmelella. Why go to a KKK meeting asking why is "race" a priority??

This is what I'm talking about. You are being so argumentative that you are coming at me with stuff I NEVER SAID.

 

[Mo to the...]

Bc there's 3 of them in my hood and they are rude as hell and still expect us to give them our money even tho they treat us like $h!t....THAT'S why they're the priority.

It shouldn't BE that way and we need to fix it.

Now if this thread gets locked....we start anew.

I really, really hope this thread doesn't get locked. It's such a shame that we can't "peacefully e-assembly" lol.

 

[JeterCrazed]

For me...I would. I'm to the point where I can make what need. My new body lotion is sweet almond oil. I never even wear weave.

All I'm saying is. I'm tired of the Asians taking advantage of us. We can nit pick all nite about what we as Black ppl suck at but what the heck does that do to fix it?? How are you gonna help? Are you Gonna help? This thread is looking for solutions. Not problems.

*sigh* Can I have a list of people NOT taking advantage of black people?

I don't know how we got to the point to assume that black business owners do not unite and communicate with each other. The ones that fail do so because of poor business practices. When you call Cut Creators, what are you planning to say/ask? I don't know any BSS owner in Newark or Irvington that doesn't know Clinton Hill Beauty Supply.

 

[ms-gg]

Although I support taking back the black hair care industry, as in trying to have a larger level of ownership in the bss (hair weave is really a personal "I could care less about" because of the unethical practices that are behind acquiring it), I do not support blanket statements about other racial groups.

Just because you encountered 2 bad apples, does not mean the whole bunch is spoiled. As black people, we should know how it feels to be stereotyped. We don't have to put down one group in order to stand strong. There are some asian bss owners who are nice, or at least they know how to exhibit excellent customer service skills. I've seen disrespect both ways while in a BSS. But that is a whole-nother issue.

Yes a lot of shady things have been done as far as the bhci is concerned but we can blame our own government for some of that as well. If you read the resources, watch the documentary I posted, do research, then you will know that the koreans are not the only guilty party here. There were a lot of politics behind what happened.

 

[JeterCrazed]

I never said:
-African Americans are the majority of the hair market
-There weren't successful black owned BSS stores
-Anything about a "Korean Mafia".


They are a priority (in this thread) because that's what the op started the thread about. This is an INDIVIDUAL thread talking about a SPECIFIC activity and group of people. Same example I gave Carmelella. Why go to a KKK meeting asking why is "race" a priority??

This is what I'm talking about. You are being so argumentative that you are coming at me with stuff I NEVER SAID.

That's interesting because my post didn't say you said those things, hence the question marks. I'm telling the OP that this is NOT the reason that BSS are failing.I'm entitled to my viewpoint as is everyone else.

 

[SmilingElephant]

*sigh* Can I have a list of people NOT taking advantage of black people?

I don't know how we got to the point to assume that black business owners do not unite and communicate with each other. The ones that fail do so because of poor business practices. When you call Cut Creators, what are you planning to say/ask? I don't know any BSS owner in Newark or Irvington that doesn't know Clinton Hill Beauty Supply.

Did you read the beginning of the thread when we said we have to start SOMEWHERE to get our community together and it should start with hair bc we spend so much money in this industry?

What is your aim here?

 

[DaPPeR]

It is more than likely not black owned. I know the BSS close to my house isn't. They hire Blacks but the employees are being supervised by someone who is Asian.
It's all a front.

Honestly, I don't think it will change because of supply and demand. They have the market cornered and are able to sell at low prices.
Most people can not afford to overpay for items. They are going to buy what they need/want at the lowest cost. I know I do.

In addition, the percentage of African Americans living under the poverty level is twice the national average.
We do not have or do not utilize economic power.

Steps that probably will need to take place:

1. Stop the dependence on weaves and extensions
2. Black owned distributors need to take a stand
3. Black owned BSS owners need to form a coalition and support each other
4. Another non-Asian supply source needs to be created or found (currently there is no competition)

One thing I do not understand:
If a distributor sells a Black owned BSS some products/inventory, how can they come back and demand the items back and take it off the shelves? The transaction was completed. They no longer have claim to the items.

Im getting there....slowly but surely...This is rediculous (sp)

 

[Mo to the...]

Although I support taking back the black hair care industry, as in trying to have a larger level of ownership in the bss (hair weave is really a personal "I could care less about" because of the unethical practices that are behind acquiring it), I do not support blanket statements about other racial groups.

Just because you encountered 2 bad apples, does not mean the whole bunch is spoiled. As black people, we should know how it feels to be stereotyped. We don't have to put down one group in order to stand strong. There are some asian bss owners who are nice, or at least they know how to exhibit excellent customer service skills. I've seen disrespect both ways while in a BSS. But that is a whole-nother issue.

Yes a lot of shady things have been done as far as the bhci is concerned but we can blame our own government for some of that as well. If you read the resources, watch the documentary I posted, do research, then you will know that the koreans are not the only guilty party here. There were a lot of politics behind what happened.

Exactly. Which is why the "black people didn't do xyz..." is pointless. There are multiple players in this game and all had a hand in creating the current problem. Like SmilingElephant said, this thread IS about brainstorming solutions not creating more problems or nit picking what black people didn't do in the past but what we will do now.