By Camille Davis
Special to the AFRO

With a little over a year in business, best friends Kimberly Smith and Amaya Smith are fighting to save their Washington, DC-based beauty boutique.

The Brown Beauty Co-Op’s concept is about “creating a community space for women of color to feel welcome; which includes hosting other organizations, small businesses and events.” The Smith girls (unrelated) abruptly canceled scheduled events and closed their door to foot traffic due to the sudden increase in Covid-19 cases in the DC-area.

The Brown Beauty Co-Op is a place geared toward creating a community space for women of color. (Courtesy Photo)

Mayor Muriel Bowser announced the need for all non-essential businesses to close starting March 25 at 10 pm. The Smiths began transitioning before the announcement. The effect of downtown offices closing was immediately felt. The sudden decrease in sales prompted the owners to seek alternatives for financial assistance for themselves and the over 60 local, national and international brands retailed in their store.

In addition, recommendations and guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) made the businesswomen leery about operating as normal.

 “We also wanted to follow CDC guidelines regarding sheltering in place and not having events with large groups of people,” the entrepreneurs explained. 

While the city government offers loans and micro-grants to sustain and rebuild small businesses, the Smiths explained, “It’s still too early to tell whether these loans and micro-grants will be helpful.”

“We’ve just started applying for things and it’s unclear how long the closures will continue for and when business will get back to normal,” the entrepreneurs said. 

However, loss doesn’t end at the closing doors; area landlords have also taken notice.”

As the co-founders began remapping their business strategy and migrating business towards online sales, The Brown Beauty Co-Op was notified of rent increases on the Dupont Circle location. “Rent increases are a challenge for small businesses at any time much less a crisis,” said the owners. “Small businesses in the first few years work really hard to make it past the first five years and any additional financial burdens can pose a challenge.”

Finding a new location is not an option at the time, they said. “During what is likely to be a big economic downturn it’s not a great option for any business to have to incur moving and build-out costs or have to sign a new lease. We’re hopeful that we’ll be able to weather this challenge and maintain our current location.”

The Brown Beauty Co-Op represents more than retail; the brick-and-mortar provides space for women of color to gather and find products and a community that uplifts them. 

“In today’s beauty retail environment women of color are often taken for granted as a consumer,” the businesswomen said.

“Our customers have told us they love the store, the products and that there is nothing else like this that offers the same experience for women of color.” Although, the current state of emergency is a tough time for global citizens as a whole, the Brown Beauty Co-op owners remain positive; confident to recover along with the rest of the country. 

Those looking to support small businesses at this time and customers who remain loyal to the Brown Beauty Co-op, are encouraged to purchase products online at http://www.brownbeautycoop.com or make a donation to their Go Fund Me campaign at bit.ly/bbcgofundme.