Who profits from Black consumers & How much we buy?

Update, February 2012

Click Here To See What Black People Can Do To Help Ourselves.

 

2011 Neilsen Black Buying Power Update. If we only spent

some of this in our own businesses think about how many Black

jobs we could create... Click Here! (This is a pdf document so give it time to load.)

 

 

African Americans are proportionately the largest users of mouthwash, deoderant , soap, toilet paper, cough medicine, laxitives and lotion. We spend over $10 billion yearly on our hair. We spend $60 billion on food in the grocery stores annually and this doesn't include fast food where we spend around $25 billion annually. Proportionately, we are major purchasers of athletic shoes and apparel. Yet, can you name for me any products sold in your local supermarket or drug store that come from Black own companies? Maybe 1 or 2. Lets look around our communities. Do you see any Black owned retail stores. Think about your average week. Do you spend any money with businesses that you know are Black owned? Even franchises, how many of those are Black owned, proportionate to what we spend. Very, very few. There are less than a handful of Black owned BMW, Toyota and Mercedes Benz dealerships nationwide, yet we love to buy these cars. Don't get me started about the diamond ear rings that young brothers like to wear in both ears.

Why do we love companies and their products that don't love us back? Our purchases create companies, jobs ,opportunities and wealth for everyone else but ourselves. Foreigners coming to America know that the easiest and cheapest place for them to set up a family business is in the Black community. They are told that African Americans really don't care who they buy from. We don't seem to really understand the basic principles of economic survival. If we don't begin to do business with ourselves, then who will. Now lets look at other minority groups. Every major city has a China town where many Asians shop. Furthermore these shops hire Asian employees. The same is true for Hispanics who are now the largest minority group in America. A recent survey in the Wall Street Journal says employers increasingly prefer to hire Hispanics over Blacks. This is only going to get worse as Black consumers continute to patronize everyone else but ourselves.

Target Market News Report On How Much Black Consumers Spend:

The report analyzes spending for black households in 2008 and finds that African-Americans began showing signs of the pending economic turmoil that would hit the entire nation. The pattern of purchases shifted dramatically in some categories. Contributions to churches and other non-profits dropped 16% to $11 billion. Expenditures on personal care products and services declined 10% to $6.6 billion. Spending on alcoholic beverages decreased 6% to $2.8 billion.

Purchases of items related to the home continued to increase despite the need for economic sacrifices. Appliance purchases grew 27% to $2.2 billion. Computers for home use climbed 28% to $3.5 billion. Consumer electronic expenditures went up by 32% to $4.5 billion.

"African-American households are facing this economy by being more focused in the purchases they make," said Ken Smikle, president of Target Market News and editor of the "Buying Power" report. "In 2008 black consumers had total earned income of $803 billion. They ranked 17th among the economies of the world in comparable gross national income. They continue to be a critical part of the American marketplace, and will contribute substantially in the economic recovery of American business."

The "Buying Power" report's 100-Plus Index section shows how black households continue to spend on average more than their white counterparts in categories such as food, apparel, appliances, personal care products and services and phone service.

Estimated Expenditures by Black Households - 2009

Apparel Products and Services	$29.3 billion
Appliances	2.0 billion
Beverages (Alcoholic)	3.0 billion
Beverages (Non-Alcoholic)	2.8 billion
Books	321 million
Cars and Trucks - New & Used	29.1 billion
Computers	3.6 billion
Consumer Electronics	6.1 billion
Contributions	17.3 billion
Education	7.5 billion
Entertainment and Leisure	3.1 billion
Food	65.2 billion
Gifts	9.6 billion
Health Care	23.6 billion
Households Furnishings & Equipment	16.5 billion
Housewares	1.1 billion
Housing and Related Charges	203.8 billion
Insurance	21.3 billion
Media	8.8 billion
Miscellaneous	8.3 billion
Personal and Professional Services	4.1 billion
Personal Care Products and Services	7.4 billion
Sports and Recreational Equipment	995 million
Telephone Services	18.6 billion
Tobacco Products	3.3 billion
Toys, Games and Pets	3.5 billion
Travel, Transportation and Lodging	6.0 billion

Source: Target Market News, "The Buying Power of Black American - 2010"

 

 The above statistics should be enlightening to both blacks and whites showing

how much Black consumer buying contributes to the overall well being

of the US economy toward the creations of jobs and wealth even for many

companies who refuse to hire us at all levels.

 

Why Buy Black? Click Here

 

It also tells Black Americans that in comparison to third world countries,

we aren't as poor as the media would like America to believe.

Our major problem as Black Americans is we have yet to use

our buying power to create jobs and opportunities for

Black entrepreneurs in our own communities and as leverage with

corporations who don't respect our buying power.

We must stop seeing ourselves and our ability to control

our own destiny and communities as powerless.

Comments

[Monica]

My name is Monica Anderson, Born and bread in the UK of Jamaican parents and like yourself. Raised in the sixties.

Your above question could also mirror the UK.

In The UK the black population contribute so little to it's consumer needs.
The few who do set up business try to get rich so quickly by inflating their
prices to a level where the average black person finds it impossible to
support on a regular basis. Inevitably the business fails.

There is then the common criticism blacks don't support black businesses.

This is just to let you know I have enjoyed your site. You have spoken so
much truth.


I'm hoping to have a web-site up and running soon. Hopefully we can encourage
our people to take their futures into their own hands. Nothing will be handed
to us on a plate.

I will link your site to mine so others can read your words of wisdom.

Thank you so much for such a wonderful site.
God Bless

Monica
NW London UK

[Tre Millyanz]

We simply need to have more black-owned businesses. We also need to have these businesses so we can hire Black ex-cons. There's so many Black men out there that can't escape the cycle of going to prison, getting released, and going back again because they can't find good work. Most of these brothers were incarcerated for ridiculous and/or false reasons anyway. Also, we need to make it a point to seek out Black-owned business to patronize. Blackpages.com does an alright job of this, but it could be improved to look more professional. Just my 2 cents!

dangerousNegro.com
Black Empowerment Apparel

[Marvin Wethington]

Mr. Johnson. Your site seems to echo the sentiments of our new film, Color of the Cross. Please take a look at our site and let me hear your thoughts, Sir at http://www.colorofthecross.com.

Thank you.

[Cee]

I agreee with everything you say, not to mention that the whites that are in political power have brainwashed the blacks and are trying to do it with the hispanics one perfect example is when the cia was to neutralizing the Black Panthers by bringing in drugs to have blacks kill each other.

[leanier carter]

A must read.

[Jeffrey Arnold]

THIS IS FURTHER INFO ON THE HOW AND WHY WE ARE THE LARGEST CONSUMERS..... THIS INFO IS VERY ENLIGHTENING...... HOPFULLY YOU WILL EMBRACE AND PASS IT ON ....... IAMJX