Black Positive People : Black Power: Black man sets out to take back black hair care industry

Knowledge Seed

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Feb 22, 2008
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Atlanta, GA
After eight long years of planning, Tyrone Barge is tapping into the Black hair care industry.

Barge has launched the AWNI Collection, a line of hair weaves geared toward women of color. The line of human hair comes in remi silk, mink, yaki and supreme yaki.

His interest in the hair industry first came 13 years ago when he financed the North Philadelphia-based Life Styles beauty salon, where his sister Sheila is a top stylist. After noticing that women who came to the salon for weaves were being steered to Korean-owned beauty supply shops to purchase hair, Barge sought to remove the middleman and access the product directly.

Barge made contact with a Korean distributor of a popular line of hair, only to be told that they don’t sell to Black people wholesale.

“He told me it would be bad for business if they sold the hair to Black people wholesale because we are their biggest consumers. His insult gave me the motivation to develop my own hair product,” Barge recalled.

According to a documentary titled, “The Korean Takeover of the Black Hair Industry” by Aron Renen, African-American women account for 70 percent of weave hair purchases — which equates to an estimated $15 billion per year.

For Barge, getting into the hair industry was not an easy feat. Eight years ago, he visited China and attempted to purchase hair directly from a manufacturer. Even though he was received favorably, the Chinese would not do business with him. Barge, who is a contractor by trade, had to learn about how the Chinese conducted business.


“I didn’t want to insult my hosts,” he explained.

“So, I came back home and immersed myself in learning about Chinese culture. When I returned to China, I was welcomed with open arms after eating and drinking with my hosts, who agreed to work with me to produce the hair. I struck a deal to import 100 percent human hair from India, and established my own factory in China to produce the hair. It took eight long years of going back and forth, but it was worth it.”

More info here
 
After eight long years of planning, Tyrone Barge is tapping into the Black hair care industry.

Barge has launched the AWNI Collection, a line of hair weaves geared toward women of color. The line of human hair comes in remi silk, mink, yaki and supreme yaki.

His interest in the hair industry first came 13 years ago when he financed the North Philadelphia-based Life Styles beauty salon, where his sister Sheila is a top stylist. After noticing that women who came to the salon for weaves were being steered to Korean-owned beauty supply shops to purchase hair, Barge sought to remove the middleman and access the product directly.

Barge made contact with a Korean distributor of a popular line of hair, only to be told that they don’t sell to Black people wholesale.

“He told me it would be bad for business if they sold the hair to Black people wholesale because we are their biggest consumers. His insult gave me the motivation to develop my own hair product,” Barge recalled.

According to a documentary titled, “The Korean Takeover of the Black Hair Industry” by Aron Renen, African-American women account for 70 percent of weave hair purchases — which equates to an estimated $15 billion per year.

For Barge, getting into the hair industry was not an easy feat. Eight years ago, he visited China and attempted to purchase hair directly from a manufacturer. Even though he was received favorably, the Chinese would not do business with him. Barge, who is a contractor by trade, had to learn about how the Chinese conducted business.


“I didn’t want to insult my hosts,” he explained.

“So, I came back home and immersed myself in learning about Chinese culture. When I returned to China, I was welcomed with open arms after eating and drinking with my hosts, who agreed to work with me to produce the hair. I struck a deal to import 100 percent human hair from India, and established my own factory in China to produce the hair. It took eight long years of going back and forth, but it was worth it.”

More info here
IMO : no different than the local crack dealer…..
 

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