Minority Market Day intended to rally support for small business

SHEFFIELD TWP. — Place to Recover, a training and resource center serving people reentering society, hosted a Minority Market Day on Sunday to promote Black-owned businesses and encourage area residents to shop small when possible. "Before we can have other people supporting us, we need to learn how to support each other," said Wendy Caldwell, owner and CEO of Place to Recover. She said "people from all walks of life" had stopped by the market during the afternoon to browse the selections. Lorain County could benefit from the unity fostered by community markets and similar events, Caldwell added. "This gives us an opportunity to show our talents and show our work, to show what we have to offer on another level," she said. Vendors at the event ranged from designers of clothing and face masks to massage therapists and personal chef services. Tables were spaced out to encourage social distancing and everyone wore a mask. Food was provided by chef Sheritta McCall-Fairley of Bosslady Creationz LLC and Raven McCall of Weezie Poundcakes. McCall-Fairley has updated her business model since the COVID-19 pandemic began, adding virtual cooking and grocery delivery to the businesses' usual specialties of "intimate dinners for two" and family catering. It was nice to participate in the market day and talk with members of the community who attended, McCall-Fairley said. Bosslady Creationz is based in Lorain. The majority of McCall's recipe for Weezie Poundcakes came from her grandparents, Edward and Louise. But at her Avon-based business, McCall adds her own twist to the classic recipe, which was so popular Sunday that she said supplies ran out within an hour and a half. Monét Roberts, of Lorain, sold custom-designed pillows and facemasks. Most of the messages printed on her products are faith-based, and she also makes some "Lorain pride" masks to show support for her city. "I've had a pretty good customer base," she said. "This is probably one of the best events I've had, and I've been doing events for a year and a half on the pillow side." Markus Youngkin, of Lorain, had a table for his Refined Conceptions marketing and branding business. The t-shirts he showed off Sunday included a "Make Hate Wrong Again" design, which he said turned heads when he wore a version of it at the racial justice protest in Avon last month. "As young people, especially our generation, we want to buy the Gucci or the Prada or the Balenciaga, but we won't go down the street to shop at my local corner store or my local business," Youngkin, 28, said. "...We have to put the dollar back into our community." The market day also featured a push for attendees who haven't done so already to complete the 2020 U.S. Census, with volunteer Inez James giving away her homemade popcorn products to attendees who filled out the form. A few hours into the market, she said about six people had been counted. Contact Dylan Reynolds at (440) 329-7123 or dreynolds@chroniclet.com. Follow him on Twitter @drey1357.