The ‘Black Market’ delivers…Small Black businesses win big in Market Square

TAMIKA SCALES HAD PLENTY OF CUSTOMERS FOR HER BUSINESS, “YAYA UNIQUE.” (PHOTO BY J.L. MARTELLO) Ask any of the small Black business owners who took part in the “Black Market” in Market Square over the past few weeks, and they’ll tell you, it was an Andrew McCutchen home run. Maybe even a Willie Stargell or Dave Parker grand slam. Each year during the holiday season, Pittsburgh’s Market Square is packed with small businesses selling pretty much everything, and there are tens of thousands of people who brave the cold temperatures to purchase the goods. It’s named the “Peoples Gas Holiday Market,” but inside the “Holiday Market” was the “Black Market,” held for the first time entirely in Market Square under a heated white tent, giving people of all ethnicities the perfect chance to walk in and support the 20 or so Black businesses. FELICIA LANGFORD, OF THE NORTH SIDE, AND HER SON, WAMO RADIO’S MIKE DEAN, CHECK OUT BRACELETS FROM CANDISE RICE’S “SHELOVES COLLECTION.” (PHOTO BY ROB TAYLOR JR.) “It has been an amazing experience,” said an excited Stacey Sherer, owner of S & S Chocolatz, LLC. “Pittsburgh has really come out and supported not just myself, but all the...