Visit Philadelphia’s Legacy & Love campaign is celebrating Black History Month by highlighting four Black-owned businesses that value family.
Daniel Davis is Visit Philadelphia’s director of diverse marketing. He said the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) chose “African Americans and Labor” as this year’s Black History Month theme.
Davis said Visit Philadelphia aimed to use this theme’s focus on the impacts of Black workers throughout history to uplift these businesses.
“We wanted to explore the theme and see different ways we could really look at that from a Philadelphia perspective,” he said. “One thing that really came to me after doing some research is that a lot of our businesses are really family-owned, generationally-owned businesses, Black-owned businesses.”
The campaign contains videos from each of the businesses. These clips highlight the businesses’ daily operations, but also provide interviews between past and present family business owners and includes anyone who businesses may have served as tributes to.
“We have the current owner and if it’s a business that was owned through generations, we have the previous owner, or if it was a business created in tribute of someone, we have the person that it was created in tribute of interview each other, asking each other questions about their experience owning a business, having something being in tribute to them,” he said. “[We’re] really just diving deep into the larger impact of their businesses in the African American community.”
There are four businesses featured in the campaign.
Vera Doyle
Vera Doyle is a gift shop that has everything from accessories and clothes to soaps, candles and jewelry.
Lori Thomson is the owner of Vera Doyle.
“It’s named after my mom,” Thomson said. “And that’s my way of showing my love and honoring her and kind of her life’s journey as a Black woman in America.”
She said the Legacy & Love campaign values are strongly reflected in her store.
“And [the campaign] is me loving her and leaving a legacy and putting her name and kind of what she represents in everyone’s mind,” she said. “And then when they come to the shop, it’s a reflection of her and her personality and mine as well. We try to make it feel like home, and that’s what she always does when people come to her house.”
Thomson adds that she enjoys supporting and showcasing a variety of products.
“I do try to highlight makers of color, brands of color, but I do like to have a diverse offering of items, products and makers,” she said.
Thomson said she feels very supported by the Philly community and this campaign. She explained it is sometimes hard to grow and be seen as a small business in the community.
“I think that’s the beauty of small businesses,” she said. “I think we’re just very much these little diamonds you find in the rough. And with Visit Philly, I think this is really great to highlight the hard work that goes into being a small business, specifically a Black-owned business.”
Thomson said carrying on her mom’s legacy through this store is a powerful example of the themes the Legacy & Love campaign embodies.
“I think it’s more important to really make sure my name is remembered, and for something good and for something trying to help people,” she said. “Gifts, it’s giving, it’s helping someone else, it’s making them feel better. And if my mom’s name, Vera Doyle, is tied to that, and my name, Lori Thomson, is tied to that history, it’s amazing.”
Davis said he was inspired by the story behind Vera Doyle. He said it is a strong example of the values the campaign carries.
“It’s really a business to showcase the strength of Black women and all the different, great things that Black women create and all the minority-owned businesses create overall.”
Vera Doyle is located at 7118 Germantown Ave., in Philly.
Paul Beale’s Florist
Paul Beale’s Florist is a family-owned business that has been operating since the 1970s.
Davis said this company was featured in the campaign for its strong family ties.
“It was opened by Altermese Beale and her late husband Paul,” he said. “And it’s now been passed down to their daughter, Paulette. So this is a really intriguing business. The family still works all within the business. The mother, Altermese, is in her 90s and still actually works at the business as well.”
The store opened in 1971. In the Legacy & Love video series, Altermese explains her husband had an extensive background in the floral business before starting his own shop.
“He was the manager of a flower shop for 15 years,” she said. “And every night he came home, he’d tell me he wanted to open his own flower shop.”
The store offers various floral arrangements and gifts. They specialize in weddings, funeral arrangements, fruit baskets, greeting cards and a variety of other services.
Altermese still works at the store, but her daughter Paulette Beale is the owner of the florist. In the video, Paulette said her biggest challenge in taking over the store has been remaining relevant and explaining to customers that the quality of the store, regardless of who is in charge, is still there.
“As long as it’s a Beale here, the quality remains the same,” she said.
Paulette added that she admired her mother and father’s hard work and vision in developing the flower shop. She said she hopes to carry on this legacy through her work.
Other family members, including children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of Altermese and Paul Beale, help with the business and work within the company.
Paul Beale’s Florist is located at 7220 Ogontz Ave.
Hakim’s Bookstore
Hakim’s Bookstore was one of the first Black-owned bookstores in the entire country.
Davis said he selected this business due to the family’s attention to carrying on the legacy of their family.
“They are owned by Yvonne Blake, and she has been carrying on the legacy of her father Dawud Hakim since his passing away in the late ‘90s,” he said. “So, I was really interested to see their story, again, another family business where a lot of their family members work within the business.”
In the video series, Blake said her father became interested in African American history after reading several books by Jamaican-American historian and author J.A. Rogers. He did more research and discovered more history about African American culture.
Blake said she “never” pictured herself running the store, especially after her father had first opened the store.
“When my father opened the store, I was kind of confused because we didn’t have any customers back in 1959,” she said.
She explained this was the first and only African American bookstore in Philadelphia and the east coast at that time, and because of this, it wasn’t immediately popular.
Over 60 years later, the store is still around, and continues its tradition of providing rare books that can’t be found elsewhere. It also provides various children’s books, African American studies and other books.
Blake said she wants the store to continue to educate others on African American history, and self-resilience.
“[It is important] to have everybody acknowledge that African Americans have a place in the history of this country,” she said.
Alana Ramberan is Dawud Hakim’s great-granddaughter. She said she feels it is important to pass on the family legacy of the business because of the hard work her family put into it and the history that preceded it.
“I’m excited to see where the business can grow to and utilize my business degree that I’m currently pursuing,” she said.
Ramberan is a senior at Clark Atlanta University, and she said she is excited to see “where she can take the store” when she graduates.
Hakim’s Bookstore is located at 210 S. 52nd Street.
Arterial Coffee
Arterial Coffee is run by two sisters, Sharaine and Sharla Brown. The business specializes in coffee, tea and small bites.
Davis said this business was chosen for its focus on the sister’s relationship and entrepreneurial goals.
“They are a sister duo that opened Arterial a few years ago right during the pandemic,” Davis said.
He said the coffee shop’s location between Drexel and Penn universities, and its proximity to the Museum of Art make it a prime spot.
In the video series, Sharaine said she is a “serial entrepreneur.” She pitched the idea of a coffee shop to her sister, Sharla, before the business was able to be created.
“The fact that you said yes, is why this is actually the case now,” Sharaine said.
Sharaine said working together, maintaining the brand and operating as a small business were all challenges the sisters dealt with when first opening.
She added they “balance each other out” as business partners.
“You bring a sense of structure that I think I can be very ‘loosey-goosey’ on,” she said.
Sharla said she hopes the legacy of the coffee shop will carry on.
“I want Arterial Coffee to be the one thing the two sisters did together, on the corner of 31st and Spring Garden,” she said.
She added she wants other younger people to feel inspired by the coffee shop, and to feel the confidence to do something “out of the norm” moving forward.
Sharlene added that, as immigrants who are Black and female, it is important to share their story to inspire others.
“I think our legacy has already started,” she said. “We opened an actual, functioning business. That’s important to me as far as just representing those communities that are typically underserved.”
Arterial Coffee is located at 3100-02 Spring Garden St.
Future hopes
Davis said he hopes this campaign serves both visitors and Philly residents.
“We really want to show visitors as they come to try to do different things outside of our normal tourist attractions,” he said. “And then for residents, we really think this is a great opportunity to help instill some civic pride for them, to really celebrate the businesses that are in their own neighborhoods.”
He said the campaign has since garnered lots of positive attention and feedback. Davis said he feels the best about being able to represent and help various other small and diverse businesses through this kind of campaign.
“This has been awesome, and just seeing the sentiment that we’ve seen from the public has been great so far,” he said. “But then also, just really the businesses themselves, hearing how some businesses sometimes feel like they could be a little bit forgotten or sometimes they can just not always be the top of mind, but to hear just from them that they feel they feel appreciated and seen has been really great for us as an organization.”
