Koreans and the Black Hair Business

In the late 70's most beauty supply stores in my neighborhood were black. As a matter of fact, there were not very many and the ones that existed were very small. Suddenly around the late 80's early 90's I noticed beauty supply stores started popping up on every corner. This time they were bigger, offered more products and strangely enough ran by Koreans. Soon enough the small black beauty supplies began to fade away, finding it hard to compete with the Koreans who had more products and at a cheaper price.


We all know that black women are serious about our hair. We buy relaxers,wigs,weaves, detachable ponytails, hot curlers, ceramic flat irons, pressing combs ect. So basically the beauty supply and distribution business is a billion dollar industry. With all the beauty supplies in the hood and all the sistahs flocking to buy merchandise, who profits the most from the sale?

We all know that Madame CJ Walker made her first million in the beauty industry. Well it may be hard to find a black person in today's market making million(s) of dollars selling or distributing beauty supplies. The reason for this is the Koreans dominate the market. Some even refuse to sale products made by black distributors. In many cases the Koreans will allow a limited amount of black made products in their store....then after a short while they will start making their own brand of the product and refuse to sale the black made product.


I respect everyone hustle don't get me wrong the black beauty industry was an open market that went virtually undeserved for years. However, many of these Korean run shops never invest in the neighborhoods they serve. Hell in most cases you will never see a black person even working in the store.

I am so happy that I went natural because I no longer contribute to making Koreans richer. This issue is wayyyy bigger than I can cover. But trust and believe it is a big deal. If possible try to find and shop and a black owned beauty supply store. If you are unsure where to find one goggle Black Owned Beauty Supply Association. Understand.. it is very important to put money back into the hands of people that look like us. Yes...the product may be a bit higher priced but it's worth it.