A woman with springs of happy hair jutting from her head and artfully hand-crafted jewelry completing her style stand at a cash register surrounded by gallon jugs of a rainbow assortment of scented body oils. Every crook and cranny of the storefront is packed with incense, hand stitched black dolls, books and natural body products.
Owner and manager of Shades of Africa on 4th St. Renee Quarles has been an entrepreneur since 1992. She said she first began selling locally handmade body products and jewelry from the trunk of her car.
“I was tired of the threat of losing my job, and depending on another person for my income,” Quarles said.
At the time, she worked for hospital administration in Los Angeles and feared of looming lay-offs. By living frugally, she eventually managed to save enough money to open up a storefront on 3rd St. She managed to afford paying rent through the local wares she sold and managing an apartment complex down the street.
“I had to balance it very well,” she said.
The City of Long Beach began to reposes the rented strip of space to make way for the Art Exchange and she found herself faced with having to relocate. She found her niche nestled in a tight-knit neighborhood where regular customers soon became regular suppliers.
“The lady down the street jut brought in this… rose-scented [bath salt]… I’m going to sell it by the ounce,” Quarles said as she proudly presented a large clear vase of pink minerals.
For Quarles, the success of her business depends on the balance between her and the local community.
“I’m using a black [person’s] dollar to put it back into a black hand,” she said.
By buying products from African Americans to sell to African Americans, Quarles sees herself as creating an equilibrium for the “little man,” rather depending on corporate America to tell us what to spend our money on hand how to do so.
“This way I am completely self-sufficient,” Quarles said proudly.
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Owner and manager of Shades of Africa on 4th St. Renee Quarles has been an entrepreneur since 1992. She said she first began selling locally handmade body products and jewelry from the trunk of her car.
“I was tired of the threat of losing my job, and depending on another person for my income,” Quarles said.
At the time, she worked for hospital administration in Los Angeles and feared of looming lay-offs. By living frugally, she eventually managed to save enough money to open up a storefront on 3rd St. She managed to afford paying rent through the local wares she sold and managing an apartment complex down the street.
“I had to balance it very well,” she said.
The City of Long Beach began to reposes the rented strip of space to make way for the Art Exchange and she found herself faced with having to relocate. She found her niche nestled in a tight-knit neighborhood where regular customers soon became regular suppliers.
“The lady down the street jut brought in this… rose-scented [bath salt]… I’m going to sell it by the ounce,” Quarles said as she proudly presented a large clear vase of pink minerals.
For Quarles, the success of her business depends on the balance between her and the local community.
“I’m using a black [person’s] dollar to put it back into a black hand,” she said.
By buying products from African Americans to sell to African Americans, Quarles sees herself as creating an equilibrium for the “little man,” rather depending on corporate America to tell us what to spend our money on hand how to do so.
“This way I am completely self-sufficient,” Quarles said proudly.
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WEBSITE
