“When you’re not making a dollar on something that you’re all into, you’re bound to stop, but that’s the only reason why we haven’t, because of what we see,” said Kenia Massey, co-owner of The Black Corner Neighborhood Variety Market.
At first glance, New Haven’s Black Corner variety store is your normal corner store.
“[Kenia] always has the most convenient stuff here,” Micah Carter, of New Haven, said.
But for Kenia and her husband Michael, owning their own business goes well beyond sales.
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“The store’s not as profitable as people would think. I do it mostly for the kids so they have somebody to look up to,” Michael said.
“To know that someone is here for you and backing you and with you every step of the way and wanting to actually strive for you to do better and give you something to do I think is super important,” Carter said.
That’s exactly what the Massey family has been working to do – transforming part of their store into a space for kids to come after school, socialize and also learn through their Business of the Week program.
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“We like for different businesses to come in and teach the kids their industries,” Kenia said.
The community outreach runs through the Massey’s nonprofit, Black Corner Investments, and utilizes part of the store’s space to host community outreach programs with the support from local organizations.
“This is not a daycare, but we do give kids a safe place to come in and hang out because they want to be with each other, but they can’t go to each other’s homes because sometimes it’s just unsafe,” Kenia said.
As great as its purpose is, Kenia admitted there are challenges staying afloat.
“It would be over a $100,000 just to make this store look like the Mobil up the street,” she said.
That’s money, and inventory, the store currently does not have.
“The people don’t have to come to my store at all. They come here to support us,” Kenia said.
But the more support they get, the more they can give back to supporting kids and people in the neighborhood.
“We have to do all that we do or we would be out of luck, we’d be shut down, so one hand helps the other,” Kenia said.
