Inside This Black-Owned Bookstore’s Massive Organic Growth (2024)

Jazzi McGilbert didn’t exactly start out with a business idea, but rather a vision of a space for Black people in Los Angeles. She wanted to create a place where they could gather as a community, inspired by her own childhood in the city. “I was just a creative, bookish, introverted Black girl growing up and always needed spaces to just feel safe. And I lacked those,” Jazzi says. “So I went out and built one.” With just $20,000, Jazzi started Reparations Club, a bookstore and community space. In just three years, the store has grown into a seven-figure business. Much of that growth has happened organically, driven by creativity, curation, and careful risk-taking. Harnessing her creative side Jazzi is an artist who works in multiple mediums. She was a fashion magazine editor and a creative director before starting Rep Club, and brought a similar artistic sensibility to designing the store. “I approach my business like an artist in that I am thinking about color and texture and how people are going to resonate with the work,” Jazzi says. For Reparations Club, Jazzi wanted the store to have a 1970s-inspired aesthetic, similar to the décor of her childhood. Reparations Club...