In beauty especially, this misconception is just one of the challenges still facing Black-owned brands, even as mainstream retailers give them shelf space.
, has seen similar confusion around her line of acne-targeting products, which can be found at Target, Urban Outfitters, Nordstrom and more. In her Instagram stories, Martin politely called out an article that claimed she created her brand in response to "a lack of innovation and skin-care products catering to Black skin," when that was actually not the case: In fact, she had never positioned her products as catering to Black skin, specifically; they're for anyone with acne.
"Just like a business from any other race can create a product or service that serves a diverse customer base, so can a Black-owned business," notes Carrington. "No one seems to question other races if their product or service can be used by someone else outside of that race, so why is that asked of Black-owned businesses?"
Of course, this misconception about who Black-owned brands are for isn't the only issue that could temper their success at the retail level. Black-owned brands also tend to be underfunded, which makes it more difficult for them to compete with other, more established brands, even if they're sitting on the same store shelves.
"I feel a lot of them are reaching a ceiling; there's barriers to entry to distribution and manufacturing channels, having visibility in these big box stores as well as the marketing that’s put behind certain brands...are not the same," he says. Marketing aside, brands also often need the capital to be able to manufacture enough product upfront to guarantee the orders from those big retailers.
Martin shares that while the mass retailer isn't perfect, she's felt particularly supported in her relationship with Target. "I've felt supported as a Black founder by Target since 2018, from Black History vendor fairs or them paying for me to attend AfroTech with them," she says. "I think really being able to do the behind the scenes work, like their Entrepreneurship Advisory Council I'm currently a part of, is the best thing you can do as a retailer right now.