4th Ave Market

Largest Black Owned online retail platform for socially conscious consumers to discover, buy, sell and profit from the Beauty, Health and Wellness products specifically made for them. While our platform is relevant to many product categories, we are starting with a focus on Textured Hair Care due to the category size, growth rate and high consumer dissatisfaction. 

How did we get started?

After over a decade turning around declining brands and driving millions of dollars in growth and profit for Fortune 500 brands like Kotex, Cottonelle, and Jameson Irish Whiskey, I left the corporate world to pursue a path I could be more passionate about. I uncovered an opportunity to buy an existing e-commerce platform and partnered with one of my best friends and 15 Year Software Engineering expert to optimize the platform and develop a new approach that could benefit our community. We purchased the site together and literally overnight became the largest black owned online hair and beauty retail platform in the US. At that point, we committed to creating a platform that will shift the economic balance in industries where so much dissatisfaction and tension exists among consumers of color. 

What is the problem we are solving? 

4th Ave Market platform increases access, awareness and distribution of products created for communities of color.

Our goal is that 4th Ave Market will drive an increase in transparency, accountability & BIPOC ownership across the retail supply chain. With the lack of clarity that consumers face when it comes to socially-conscious shopping, 4th Ave Market promises to provide consumers with transparency that will make it clear where their money is going. Our primary focus will be on:

• Supply chain ownership and diversity
• Raw material sourcing and diversity
• Distribution partners and diversity

Current Landscape

Today's consumers are growing more socially conscious. 73% of consumers indicate that transparency and traceability are important to them and are willing to pay a premium for brands that provide that transparency & traceability.

Conscious consumers want to spend their money with companies that are
aligned with their values. 73% would stop purchasing from a company that
shared a different perspective on these specific issues -- particularly racial equality (87%), women's rights (84%), climate change (76%) and LGBTQ rights (64%).

Equally, today's consumers are growing more diverse:

• By 2024, U.S. multicultural buying power (African Americans, Asian Americans and Hispanic/Latinos) is on track to be $5.4T.
  
• Within that, the Black community is 2nd to Hispanics/Latinos in buying power - on track to $1.8T by 2024 which is a 85% increase within less than 15 years.
• The Black community is currently ~14% of the total U.S. population (~44M) and drives close to 10% of the total U.S. buying power.
• Black women are economic pacesetters -- driving growth in majority-owned women businesses 67% more than the total U.S. female population.
• Economic power is growing among a younger, more savvy and more economically sound diverse consumer base. With economic power comes a stronger voice in where dollars are spent.

Supplier diversity drives ROI: The National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC) noted in one study that minority businesses under its certification umbrella have a total economic impact of more than $400 billion dollars in output, resulting in the creation of and/or preservation of more than 2.2 million jobs.

A past Supplier Diversity study from the Hackett Group shows that companies that "focus heavily on supplier diversity" generate a 133% greater return on procurement investments than the typical business. In addition, companies that dedicate 20% or more of their spend to diverse suppliers can attribute as much as 15% of their annual sales to supplier diversity programs. 

More diverse consumer base and textured hair: In an industry where Black consumers spend upwards of $2Bn per year on hair and personal care products, dissatisfaction and frustration have overflowed as traditional and current retailers continue to minimize and underdeliver on the needs of this highly engaged and valuable community. With more research, we realized that its not just black consumers who struggle to find the right products for their needs, but ~50% of ALL AMERICANS have textured hair and are forced to shop under the same sub-optimal conditions.

What have we been able to achieve so far?

We launched in 2019 and experienced tremendous growth in 2020. We are growing revenue, lowering the cost to acquire new customers and strengthening our relationship with our customers. 

Our wide range of products, low prices, and strong focus on customer service has earned us high praise from customers and over 15,000 loyalty members since October 2019.

We also received a strong positive response from Salon Owners, Barbers and Stylists at the Bronner Brothers International Hair Show in Atlanta (February 2020).

What makes us unique and different?

Our platform is being integrated with the cultural ecosystem or natural flow of information, recommendations, and referrals for products and services that already exists in communities of color.  In the Black community, this ecosystem can reach up to 90% of population! These "Points of Trust" include (but are not limited to): Black Church/Mosque; Barber Shop/Salon; Community organizations (ex. Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., Jack & Jill, NAACP); and HBCUs. 

Our business model and strong value proposition of providing value to the community has enabled us to form a growing list of strategic partnerships with major corporations, community organizations, HBCUs and people of influence who align with our mission. These partnerships are helping us to:

• Lower our cost of business
• Increase access to our customers
• Provide hands-on training through internships with college credit
• More effectively reinvest value back to the community we serve

How do we make money and how is it recirculated through the community?  

4th Ave Market business model re-circulates the dollar through communities of color. Our approach focuses on revenue-share as an incentive for those "Points of Trust" who already serve as vital connectors to information and recommendations for products and services targeting the community. The chart below illustrates how our business model generates revenue and reinvests back into the community. 

What's the significance behind our company name?

The Historic 4th Avenue District in Birmingham, Alabama presented the blueprint for creating an economic ecosystem wrapped in the values of the community it serves. We are building the 21st Century 4th Ave District.

Don't just participate, become an owner!

We have proven the concept works and now seek to engage you, the community, in this journey to create a community centric business model that returns value back to, well... you! So, join us! TOGETHER we can guarantee that OUR DOLLAR MATTERS!