Charlotte Haynes and Yolanda Barber-Billie: Local Black-owned beauty businesses

By Christine Shelby | OBSERVER Staff Writer

August is Black Business Month, a celebration of Black entrepreneurship and the invaluable contributions Black businesses make to the economy. Pew Research Center estimates that while African American or Black-owned businesses account for only 3% of all U.S. businesses, the desire to build wealth through entrepreneurship is a top motivator. Although health care is the dominant industry for Black-owned businesses, two local business owners are charting their own paths in the beauty industry.

Charlotte Haynes, Charlene’s Beauty Supply

Charlotte Haynes is passionate about Black hair, which led her to open Charlene’s Beauty Supply in Elk Grove. Operating for more than a year, Charlene’s has beaten the odds, surviving where 20% of businesses do not. Charlotte has been able to weather a tough industry for Black owners and provide her customers with the products and services they need to feel beautiful.

Haynes’ journey to entrepreneurship started because her family moved a lot due to her husband’s job. Charlotte and their four daughters would need to find a new beauty supply store everywhere they lived. Usually, it was just Sally’s Beauty Supply, but as she became more aware of the industry, Charlotte realized most stores were not owned by Black people even though Black consumers spend billions annually in the beauty space. In fact, according to reports, South Koreans have dominated the beauty supply sector since the 1960s.

After moving to Sacramento, Haynes became more interested in starting her own business. This led her to finding Beauty Supply Institute, an organization dedicated to helping Black entrepreneurs launch beauty supply stores. Haynes participated in a BSI training program, but the pandemic halted a move into her own retail space. Delayed, not derailed, she found a space in Elk Grove, and with the help of a realtor and a fellow business owner, she realized her entrepreneurial goal in spring 2023.

Charlene’s Beauty Supply is named after her grandmother, though customers routinely refer to Haynes as “Charlene” in stores. She chose Elk Grove for her location because it is 11.25% Black – more than 19,000 – and she wanted those living in the area to be able to find products close to home. “Black people live all over the area,” she says. “It should be in the communities we live in.” 

Haynes recognizes her accomplishment as well as the daily grind she experiences as a beauty supply business owner. “It’s a tough business,” she shares. “Asian distributors dominate the market; they own product distribution and warehouses.” While her store is a modest 1,100 square feet, she does her absolute best to provide customers with the brands they know and love. She found this to be more challenging due to the minimum spend that the significant suppliers demand.

Despite the challenges, Haynes gushes over her clientele. She especially loves to educate people and connect with community members. 

Her space includes a salon area where one of her daughters does hair when she is in town from college. On a recent visit, Haynes stayed busy helping customers and supervising her daughters, doing various tasks in the store. 

Her passion for all things hair shines through as she helps customers find products they are looking for or are curious about. Prominently stocked up front, Beyonce’s new line, Cecred, takes center stage amid well-stocked shelves of various popular brands. Growing up, Charlotte shares, she had terrible hair experiences. So she hopes her store can help others navigate loving their hair in all its forms.

Yolanda Barber-Billie, Hair Emporium Plus

For Yolanda Barber-Billie, the inspiration behind opening her beauty supply store in Elk Grove, Hair Emporium Plus, was to inspire her children to become business owners.

“It worked,” she says. “My daughter is going to open up a private practice, and my son is actually going to open up a store in Arkansas.”

When you walk into Hair Emporium Plus, you are greeted by an organized and welcoming retail environment. Hair bundles line the walls, enticing customers to try something new.

Another critical factor in opening the store was the lack of options in the area. The Black community in Elk Grove had to travel farther to get the products they used. Since its opening in May 2023, the reception has been quite positive as people find her store when they do a Google search for products they are looking for. Repeat customers give Hair Emporium Plus all the feedback needed to know it is doing something special in Elk Grove.

In addition to the retail space, Hair Emporium Plus has a salon for hair stylists. It is used by Theresa Martin, a hair braider specializing in alopecia. “She’s like a magician when it comes to hair,” Barber-Billie shares. Hair Emporium Plus is also looking for a loctician and stylist to round out the salon space because people want to shop for products and get their hair done.

Hair Emporium Plus focuses on stocking Black hair products by Black entrepreneurs. Earlier this year, Barber-Billie traveled to Atlanta to make contacts with brands and meet young Black female entrepreneurs in the industry. She met with the owner of a brand she currently stocks, ESHA, who remembered her because Hair Emporium Plus was one of her first customers. Getting to know owners helped put the products on her shelves and give customers options in-store.

Being in business has its ups and downs. While some suppliers will not sell to Black beauty supply stores, Barber-Billie has had a good business experience, partly due to the customers and fellow entrepreneurs in the area. Charlene’s Beauty Supply is pretty close, and both owners clearly state that they are not competing. “Our objective,” says Barber-Billie, “is for both stores to succeed and be helpful to the community.” They refer customers to the other if they are out of products to help them get what they need. 

Both Haynes and Barber-Billie believe in the power of Black ownership and being an example for their communities.

Charlene’s Beauty Supply

8694 Elk Grove Blvd. No. 5; 916-829-4137

Hair Emporium Plus Beauty Supply & Salon

7440 Laguna Blvd. No. 106; 279-333-7596

This story is part of the Digital Equity Local Voices Fellowship Lab. The Lab initiative is made possible with support from Comcast NBCUniversal.

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