DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — More than 100 Black vendors are open at the Bullseye Black Market to help promote Black businesses.
It comes after church leaders at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church led a nationwide boycott of Target and other stores for repealing their DEI policies.
For Chantel Powell, her business started with a smelly kid after football practice, leading her to literally cook up a new kids-focused deodorant called Play Pitts.
“We started it as our family business out of our home kitchen,” Powell said.
In 2022, that kitchen-cooked family business made it to shelves nationwide when she signed an agreement with Target.
“It’s a huge thing for us, and it’s a moment I will never forget,” Powell told Channel 2’s Michael Doudna.
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However, this year, the company that gave her a chance announced it would roll back DEI policies, putting Target in the crosshairs of a boycott.
Reverend Jamal Bryant helped start the nationwide 40-day boycott, trying to pressure corporations to back Black-based vendors.
“That 40 days were not the deadline. It was the benchmark,” Bryant said.
For Powell, she is caught in the middle with her products still on Target shelves. But she says even while being hurt on in-store purchases, the boycott’s push to buy directly from vendors has helped soften the blow.
“We definitely experienced a loss of sales at Target. We’ve experienced an excess in sales at PlayPitts.com,” Powell said.
The goal for the Bullseye Black Market is to highlight businesses like Powell’s, even as a boycott continues.
“While people may not be shopping at Target, they are making our company thrive,” Powell said.
The Bullseye Black Market will be going on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, wrapping up each day at 7 p.m.
It is located at the Samson Health & Fitness Center on the New Birth campus. ,
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