by R. Asmerom

Macy’s knows that its customers reflect the broad range of ethnicities that compose the American landscape. More than half of its customers in top markets are minorities, according to Businessweek. Macy’s also knows that it’s a challenge for  small businesses to get contracts with the department store behometh. To reconcile and address these two facts, Macy’s created a training program to encourage and mold minority vendors for the chain.

It’s a win-win situation for minority business owners and Macy’s, which seeks to better service its demographic. According according to the University of Georgia’s Selig Center for Economic Growth, Black buying power will expand by about a quarter, to $1.2 trillion by 2015: ”Macy’s forecasts its sales of goods from minority- and women-owned businesses will jump to $1 billion in two years, after rising a projected 22 percent, to $683.2 million, in 2011.” Source

To deliver the training course, Macy’s partnered with Boston-area school Babson college and coordinated a four-and-a-half-day course taught largely by Macy’s executives including Lisa Price, whose Carol Daughters’ products are sold in Macy’s stores.

The program received over 250 applications, from which 22 finalists were selected to participate. Applicants had to submit two years of financial information, product lists, and photos. Classes included lessons on the art of markdowns, supply chains, and raising financial backing.

Four of its graduates received contracts with Macy’s in November – two of the women were African-American entrepreneurs. Kim Roxie, founder of Lamik, will be selling her line of  cosmetics which focuses on “problem-solving” make-up and kits. Her products will be sold in Macys’s stores in Texas, Louisiana and online. Monif Clarke of Monif C. also got tapped to sell her line of  plus-size apparel.

Both brands have generated a lot of buzz in the past couple of years and this Macy’s program has proven to give them an extra boost, rather than a foundation, by which to expand their businesses.

By Carletta Hurt

A woman’s beauty shouldn’t have to sacrifice her health. For Kim Roxie, she knows first-hand just how much weight this statement carries after witnessing a close friend develop lung deficiency due to the poly(iso)butene found in lip gloss. As a result of her friend’s diagnosis, Roxie knew she had to create a line that was healthy for the skin and body.

While mineral makeup is popular because it does not block the pores nor cause the face to feel as if there is a heavy ‘mask’ on the skin, it is generally not made with organic materials. With the current movement to be ‘green’ and environmentally conscious in all aspects of life, Roxie took it upon herself to create what is known as the first eco-chic cosmetics brand. In 2004 at the age of 21, Roxie launched LAMIK Beauty, a line that features products with all natural ingredients packaged in recyclable containers.

“Eco-chic make-up means ecofriendly, glamorous and natural,” explains Roxie, who opened the first LAMIK store in Houston, TX. Because of LAMIK, it is now easier for people to make a healthier choice when it comes to their make-up options because the line’s ingredients consist of water, vitamins E and C, minerals derived from the earth, Aloe Vera and green tea, not harsh and harmful ingredients like talc, lead, fragrance and poly(iso)butene.

Roxie is also a licensed aesthetician, so she is familiar with which ingredients are best for the face. Along with her chemist, a former 25-year Estee Lauder employee whom Roxie met during a chance meeting in New York in 2003, Roxie “experimented with different abstracts to create a footprint [for the make-up]. We ultimately decided to use antioxidants that would stop cancer causing free radicals,” she says. The cosmetics line features an assortment of foundations, eye shadows, lip gloss, facial care and beauty enhancement products, such as custom eyelashes and an eyebrow sculpting bar.

“We do everything in house with labs in two states,” she explains. “We purchase all ingredients for our formulas to make the product. I can press and seal powder into the tubing…knowing and understanding this process was important to me.”

Launching a niche cosmetics line required strict discipline on Roxie’s part. “I could only spend $4 per day on food,” she says, so in order to stay within the boundaries of this budget, Wendy’s was her go-to menu. Within seven months, she was able to invest $10,000 (part of it was a $500 contribution from her mother) to manufacture products and open her store.