Black-owned businesses see surge after protests

Amid the nationwide protests calling for racial equality – many African American-owned businesses are now seeing a spike in traffic…

One of those businesses, soul food restaurant Comfort LA, is located on the border of Skid Row in Downtown Los Angeles.

Comfort LA Co-Founder, Mark Walker:

“Easily a 50 to 60 percent spike, for sure, easily. The business has drastically increased especially coming from no business, very little business, everything being on lockdown.”

The biggest difference is in the number of delivery orders the restaurant now sees.

“… just the number of orders from like all the delivery channels, so like the Uber Eats, the Postmates, the Chow Now, the Grubhub and the amount of people that have gone online and downloaded our app.”

The boom in business has meant that Walker is able to hire more people from the community who were out of work.

Customers see it as an opportunity to give back.

(JAMI CARRINGTON, CUSTOMER) “It’s come through in terms of ‘What can I do?’ because there’s the global level but then it’s like ‘What impact am I making in support of my own community?…”

(ASHLEY MEACHEM, CUSTOMER) “I mean I think it’s important. You should be very intentional about the businesses you support and because they’re also people who support you in your community as well.”

The restaurant, which is adorned with records of famous black artists and concert posters from the 1960s and 1970s has served as a melting pot in the neighborhood for years.

Feeling a cultural shift, Walker wants to encourage more people to come and try out African American culture.

“For whatever reason, most of us sort of stay in our communities, our own corners and I’m sure because it’s safe versus now there’s an opportunity to kind of go out and explore.”

Video Transcript
– Amid the nationwide protests calling for racial equality, many African-American owned businesses are now seeing a spike in traffic. One of those businesses, soul food restaurant Comfort LA is located on the border of Skid Row in Downtown Los Angeles. Comfort LA co-founder, Mark Walker.

MARK WALKER: Easily a 50% to 60% spike, for sure, easily. The business has drastically increased, especially coming from no business, very little business, everything being locked down.

– The biggest difference is in the number of delivery orders the restaurant now sees.

MARK WALKER: Just the number of orders from all the delivery channels, like the UberEats, the Postmates, the ChowNow, the Grubhub, and the amount of people that’s gone online and downloaded our app.

– The boom in business has meant that Walker is able to hire more people from the community who are out of work. Customers see it as an opportunity to give back.

– It’s come through in terms of, what can I do? Because you have to go– you know, there is the global level. But then it’s like, what impact am I making in support of my own community?

– I think it’s important. You should be really– you should be very intentional about the businesses you support. And because those are awesome people who support you and your community as well.

– The restaurant, which is adorned with the records of famous black artists and concert posters from the 1960s and ’70s, has served as a melting pot in the neighborhood for years. Feeling a cultural shift, Walker wants to encourage more people to come and try out African-American culture.

MARK WALKER: For whatever reason, most of us normally sort of stay in our own community, our own corners. And I’m sure, because it’s safe versus now. There’s an opportunity to go out and explore.