The Metro: New Black-owned beauty supplier is ‘breaking barriers’
Ariell Jones, founder of Ari Party Hair, joined the show to share more about her new brick and mortar business coming to Detroit’s Dexter/Davison neighborhood.
Ari Party Hair, an online e-commerce hair wholesaler, will soon open a brick and mortar location in Detroit's Dexter/Davison neighborhood.
Black consumer spending on beauty products in the U.S. added up to $9.4 billion in 2023, Nielsen IQ reports, with the average consumer spending over $300 a year online on beauty products.
Though Detroit — a majority Black city — is known to many as the “hair capital of the world,” there are few Black-owned beauty suppliers in Detroit proper.
Ariell “Ari” Jones — a native Detroiter and the founder of Ari Party Hair, an online e-commerce hair wholesaler which will soon open a brick and mortar in Detroit’s Dexter/Davison neighborhood — wants to change that.
Jones joined The Metro on Tuesday to share more about her business and what motivated her to open Ari Party Hair.
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“Since I was little, we didn’t have that many businesses. We don’t have many beauty supplies, we don’t have many grocery stores.” she said. “We do need smaller businesses in that area, whatever it may be, we need more. And I think people would be so proud to see me or somebody from that neighborhood do something.”
During the pandemic, Jones realized that it was difficult for people in her community to get their hair done — this was the beginning of her online entrepreneurship journey.
“In my friend group, particularly nobody was selling hair, but we all were doing our own hair. During the pandemic, you couldn’t go anywhere to get your hair done so everybody had to order wig kits,” Jones said. “I also wear wigs. And so to sell it to somebody who needed help or wanted it was important.”
Jones also discusses the importance of opening a storefront and what the advantages are to having these products accessible to the Black community. Though she says she has experienced obstacles in her journey to becoming a business owner, she sees so much value in her work.
“We are breaking [down barriers] by being the scientists behind our hair care products, by being business owners creating our own beauty products and the entrepreneurs and advocates behind our own hair stuff,” Jones said. “The barrier has been the lack of access to those things.”
Use the media player above to hear the full interview with Jones.
More headlines for The Metro on July 16, 2024:
- Last year, the U.S. Forest Service distributed more than $1 billion in grant funds from the Inflation Reduction Act to communities around the country to expand and improve tree canopies and green spaces. Kevin Sayers, urban and community forest coordinator for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, joined The Metro to discuss how that funding is being spent locally.
- The city of Dearborn announced in January its plans to power city buildings with 100% renewable energy sources by 2026. Tepfirah Rushdan, one of the lead’s of the project and the director of the office of sustainability for the city of Detroit, joined the show to discuss this.
- The Detroit Golf Club Board of Directors recently announced it is planning a $16 million renovation that will transform the North Course and be completed ahead of the 2026 season. To discuss the details of the renovation as well as how the club has evolved over time, DGC President Michael Pricer joined the show.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 11 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.
