Why Asian-Owned Stores Are Losing Their Black Customers
Step inside Bee’s Nails in Atlanta, and the energy is electric. At the Black-owned nail shop, packed with Black nail techs and Black consumers getting manicures and pedicures, one customer said the quiet part out loud on Facebook: “It’s crazy that it should have not took another Asian incident for our black businesses to thrive. We should have been did this!”
Propelled by a massive push to boycott Asian-owned shops, Bee’s Nails is one of many Black-owned businesses now flourishing, with absolutely no signs of slowing down.
The catalyst for this economic shift began after 14-year-old Cyrus Carmack-Belton was fatally shot by Asian store owner Rick Chow over a false suspicion of stealing water, The Root told you. Chow’s subsequent acquittal of murder sparked outrage, triggering swift calls to boycott non-Black, immigrant-owned stores.
The tension boiled over when a viral video resurfaced of an Asian man who not only mocked a potential boycott but dared Black folks to go through with it. He smugly claimed Black communities would be left with nothing because they rely on “Chinese takeout, the dry cleaners,” and neighborhood “liquor stores.” Black folks took that disrespect personally and decided to take their business elsewhere.
The shift didn’t happen overnight. It’s apparent on all fronts, including their storefronts. Activists protested in front of a Korean-owned beauty supply store in Texas, where sign-holding demonstrators discouraged patrons from walking in and offered Black-owned alternatives to patronize instead, according to reports.
Over in Charlotte, cellphone video showed Missha Beauty store’s manager, identified as Sung Ho Lim, kicking and choking an unidentified Black woman whom he accused of stealing $3.99 fake eyelashes. Outraged protesters swarmed the storefront immediately after.
Now, the boycott of non-Black-owned stores is booming in real time. One TikTok account recently celebrated two Asian-owned nail salons being “empty AF” after allegations of discrimination. Those empty seats are a goldmine for Black creators and business owners.
In response, Black entrepreneurs are flooding timelines to promote their own brands, rallying the community, and turning decades of systemic retail discrimination into Black-owned revenue.
Leading the charge is Pastor Jamal Bryant, who shared the video of the Asian commentator on Instagram, asking his one million followers, “Y’all wanna test his theory?” after they said, “they don’t need our money and that we can’t survive without them!” The Black community took that dare. Now, long lines at places like Bee’s Nails are proving them dead wrong.
But after Black businesses cash those checks, they will need an uncomfortable reality check: keeping the Black dollar in the community is easier said than done. Suddenly, Black-owned shops are facing an overwhelming surge in demand—and the systemic hurdles are real. Decades of banks denying capital to Black entrepreneurs mean many of these businesses are fighting to scale overnight. Rather than temporary boycotts based on emotion, they will have to survive the rush, and the hype must turn into long-term, sustained investment to meet demand.
Behind the doors of Asian-owned beauty supply stores, owners must now face how they treat their consumers, or else. The days of dominating a multi-billion-dollar Black market without respecting its people are over. The national boycott has evolved into a cultural reckoning, forcing non-Black owners into the hot seat and demanding a total overhaul of hostile loss-prevention tactics that treat everyday paying customers like criminal suspects.
For decades, outside owners held the keys to the beauty industry in Black neighborhoods—but the culture just changed the locks.
