If you're looking for just the right home décor with a special Brooklyn vibe, no need to look any further than Bed-Stuy's Peace and Riot.
"I try to offer as many things as possible. I know there's a lot of holes in the market over here. We also source local makers, those items are the items that give the store some soul," owner Achiziam Maha-Sanchez said.
Maha-Sanchez is one of more than 30 Black business owners who've set up shop along Tompkins Avenue over the past decade.
"At the time I could tell it was completely underserved. There are so many people here who are at the top of their profession, but there are no services here," Bed-Vyne Wine & Spirits owner Michael Brooks said.
And they've found success in the neighborhood.
"This is a way for us to step up and have some ownership," Maha-Sanchez said.
Long Island cafe offers latest foodie trends during the pandemic
ABC7 Unite: Black-owned cafe provides community foodies with trendy treats and drinks
But like every other business owner, they're treading through tough waters lately.
It's one thing to start a business, it's another to survive in a pandemic. Many business owners along Tompkins Avenue are relying on each other to get through this season.
A recent study by the Federal Reserve found that Black-owned businesses were twice as likely to not survive the pandemic.
New York City estimates that 85% of minority and women-owned businesses will not withstand the next six months.
But these business owners have adapted.
The Tompkins Avenue Merchant Association has been working with them to get loans from the federal Paycheck Protection Program.
At Bed-Vyne Wine & Spirits they've doubled sales without letting a single customer inside.
And at Peace and Riot, the owners asked customers to buy gift cards when they couldn't open their doors.
Public Allies offers new opportunities to young people
ABC7 Unite: Public Allies offers new opportunities to young people
Customers stepped up, but so did a nearby black restaurant owner.
"She called me and said 'we have space. We are not allowed to have people dine in the café. Would you like to come here and do a pop-up?'" Maha-Sanchez said.
And when the Black Lives Matter movement spread around the world, it turned into the boost many Black businesses so desperately needed at just at the right time.
"There were a number of lists that went out with Black-owned businesses and people decided, 'yes we are going to support.' We wound up on most of those lists and overnight we almost doubled our followers on Instagram. Orders started coming in really out of nowhere," Maha-Sanchez said.
"I think Tomkins is the heart and soul of Bed-Stuy as far as commerce goes," Brooks said.
And these business owners are determined to keep it that way, lifting each other up each step along the way.
"I think it's important to bring people along with you. My success is really nothing unless I'm bringing some people along with me," Maha-Sanchez said.
MORE ABC 7 UNITE
See more stories at abc7NY.com/unite
[Ads /]
SEND STORY IDEAS TO EYEWITNESS NEWS
Watch Here & Now
Here & Now episode archive
RESOURCES
We are also publishing resources in a range of areas, which will grow and can be found below:
Ways to Help
Black Lives Matter
Black Voters Matter Fund
NAACP
National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform
No New Jails NYC
Voices of Community Activists & Leaders (VOCAL-NY)
Black LGBTQIA + Migrants Project
Teaching the Next Generation
Black Lives Matter at School
Creating Space To Talk About Racism At Your School
[Ads /]
Teaching for Black Lives - Rethinking Schools
Black-Owned Bookstores in New York and New Jersey
Cafe con Libros (Brooklyn)
Grandma's Place (Harlem)
Sister's Uptown (Manhattan)
Source of Knowledge (Newark)
The Lit. Bar (Bronx)
The Little Boho Bookshop (Bayonne)
Books
Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Raising White Kids: Bringing Up Children In A Racially Unjust America by Jennifer Harvey
So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism
Podcasts
[Ads /]
1619
Black Wall Street 1921
Jemele Hill is Unbothered
Still Processing:
Movies
American Son: Available on Netflix
If Beale Street Could Talk: Available on Hulu
Just Mercy: Available on Amazon Prime
Selma: Available on Amazon Prime
The Hate U Give: Available on Amazon Prime
When They See Us: Available on Netflix
Documentaries
13th: Available on Netflix
America Inside Out with Katie Couric: Available on National Geographic
Becoming: Available on Netflix
I am Not Your Negro: Available on YouTube