Marketplace Becomes Space For Black-Owned Small Businesses

Mahalia’s showcases the products of 25 Black-owned vendors. The store is located at 735 E. 79th St. Photo provided by Greater Chatham Initiative.
Mahalia’s showcases the products of 25 Black-owned vendors. The store is located at 735 E. 79th St. Photo provided by Greater Chatham Initiative.

 Marketplace Becomes Space For Black-Owned Small Businesses

By Tia Carol Jones

A recently opened marketplace has become a place for Black-owned small business owners to sell their goods. Mahalia’s, located at 735 E. 79th St., is a part of the City of Chicago Small Business Storefront Activation Program and the program is sponsored by the Greater Chatham Initiative.

Mahalia’s is named after Mahalia Jackson, who was not just a Gospel singer but a business owner. Jackson owned a hair salon, an apartment building and a flower shop.

“We feel that having a store named after a quintessential triple threat made a lot of sense, so we named it after her,” said Nedra Sims Fears, Executive Director of Greater Chatham Initiative.

Sims Fears said Mahalia’s is an expansion of a retail pop-up organization hosted during the holidays. It was successful, so Greater Chatham Initiative wanted to bring it back. It features 25 vendors who are selling more than 300 products.

Mahalia’s is an opportunity for the vendors to gain access to the brick-and-mortar location as well as an online retail experience. The store will operate for 13 months and continue through February 2025.

The vendors were chosen by doing outreach and some of them participated in the pop-up before. The Greater Chatham Initiative also worked with Cassi Sledge from The Black Mall and Roland Davis from BopBiz Center, who have an extensive network of Black entrepreneurs.

“Mahalia’s is a gift store, so we sell anything from greeting cards, body products, earrings, clothing, children’s books. We wanted to get a balance,” Sims Fears said.

A portion of 79th Street, from State Street to Cottage Grove, has been dubbed Mahalia’s Mile. The Greater Chatham Initiative wanted a store named after Mahalia Jackson to link with Mahalia’s Mile. There also is the Mahalia Jackson Court, which is located at 79th and State Street. Mahalia’s shares the space with Artists on the 9ine, a program that brings artists and their work to the community, with demonstrations and presentations. The goal is to have events at Mahalia’s and let the space be open to the community.

Sims Fears would like to double the number of vendors at Mahalia’s so there is a good cross-section of products that are available to purchase. The Greater Chatham Initiative wants the store to be accessible for people in the neighborhood so they can shop there. This also is a way for people who want to support Black businesses to do so in one place. There are plans to do more to activate Mahalia’s Mile. The vision is to make it a more vibrant corridor.

Marcus Jones sells his essentials oil blends at Mahalia’s. He has been making essential oils for five years online. This is his first time having his products at a retail store. So far, it has been a good experience for him. He has been able to interact with other vendors at the store.

Rashidah Sales creates artwork through her brand Soular Powered. She wanted to be part of Mahalia’s because she wanted to be part of a community of artists. She had her work featured in Artists on the 9ine. She sells greeting cards with her own illustrations of Black people on it.

“I like the idea because it’s just another avenue to get more eyes on your products,” Sales said, adding that she usually sells her goods online on Etsy or wholesale.

Mahalia’s is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. For more information about Mahalia’s, visit mahalias.com. For more information about Soular Powered, visit soular-powered.com.

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