Celebrating the African-American community

Savvy retailers who build a celebration of February as Black History Month (BHM) into their sales calendar can bring in new shoppers while inviting regular customers back after the traditional holiday sales surge.

This year, the month may take on new significance with the election of America’s first African-American president. Barack Obama’s inauguration “makes Black History Month a lot more relevant for younger people,” said Patricia Williams, manager and educational consultant for Crossroads of Life Christian Bookstore in Hillside, N.J. “They are living through ... history being made with the elections. I think celebrating BHM will make it far richer this year and should pull in more retailers who don’t normally celebrate BHM.”

Judson Press Publisher Laura Alden sees Black History Month as “an important observance for all Americans,” adding, “Many churches will no doubt be recognizing the month in a special way this year, following the inauguration of Barack Obama as the first African-American president of the United States.”

A number of Christian retail stores regularly plan quite far in advance for BHM, which was started in 1926 by historian Carter G. Woodson to recognize the contributions of African-Americans and to celebrate their heritage. Retailers have found that planning a few months ahead results in increased sales after the traditional holiday sales spike.

Jone Primm, store manager at Marshall’s Music and Bookstore in Jackson, Miss., said her store puts out special displays starting in December.

“I’ll insert articles about Black History Month as bag stuffers,” Primm said. “We’ve celebrated Black History Month for the last two years, and it’s been very successful.”

Publicity is primarily by word of mouth, but Marshall’s sees hundreds of churches come in to buy Sunday school materials, said Primm, who also does some speaking in the period between Kwanzaa and Black History Month.

Terri Williams, bookstore manager for Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship Bookstore in Dallas, said she sets up an endcap to promote books by African-American authors and highlights African-American art and figurines.

To promote the month, Williams recommends giving customers the African-American History Month flier published by the Christian African American Booksellers Association. For stores that have never celebrated BHM, Williams advises that the staff educate themselves on what products are available.

“Check with various publishers and vendors to see if they can suggest products or promotions you can incorporate in your store,” Williams said. “Determine if you have the clientele to support the purchase of African-American products. It may be that you only need a small selection of historical books and music.”

Crossroads of Life Christian Bookstore in Hillside, N.J., starts promoting its in-store BHM events during the holiday shopping season with fliers and posters. Area churches also purchase bulletin covers and bookmarks.

Crossroads’ Manager and Educational Consultant Patricia Williams considers Black History Month an opportunity to reach out to area churches by providing materials that help highlight African-American figures and history.

“We celebrate all month long by emphasizing Afro-centric products and encouraging the churches to hang up posters and banners,” Crossroads’ Williams said.

She makes an effort to ensure she has appropriate books, movies and other materials in stock for the younger set.

“The schools have activities emphasizing the richness of our culture,” she said. “I’ll ask churches to do skits for the children showcasing Black History Month during the worship. Parents will come into the store looking for books they can read to their children.”

Dickson’s Bible and Bookstore in Highland Park, Mich.—an outreach of the prominent Revival Tabernacle Church—plans to do four events for BHM, each focusing on groups of different ages. Manager Nate Richardson is considering having book signings with local authors, a poetry reading and possibly a storyteller to tell of “how God brought wonderful gifts and a treasury of their heritage for children.”

Richardson plans four months in advance for BHM. “I’ll do bag stuffers, put up posters and position the store as the place to go to every Saturday in February,” he said. “February usually isn’t that busy, but during the holiday rush, I’ll publicize Black History Month activities to repeat customer traffic.”

On the publishing side, Nathan Henrion, national account manager at Baker Publishing Group, said his company’s Urban Inspiration Catalog, published annually before Book Expo America, is distributed at the general market book show’s African-American pavilion.

Henrion believes “the titles featured for Black History Month are good all year long,” he said. “Retailers should look beyond Black History Month and offer regular shelf space for that market.”

Vickie Frye, marketing director at Urban Ministries Inc. (UMI), an African-American Christian publisher in Chicago, is focused on publishing for African-American churches.

In UMI’s Sunday school curriculum and Vacation Bible School kits, there is always “an element related to our heritage,” Frye said. “The black church understands that history is very important in understanding who we are and where we come from. When we have a new Black History product, the churches are really excited about it because there is very little in the marketplace.”