LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Starting on Saturday, May 15, you'll be able to buy from a number of Black-owned businesses in Downtown Louisville.
Through October, on the third Saturday of each month, from noon until 6 p.m., owners will set up shop at Fourth Street Live.
The group is called MELANnaire Marketplace, “which means we are going to be your future Black millionaires," said Founder Nachand Trabue.
The Marketplace began at Trabue's event venue Manhattan on Broadway in September of 2020. Since then, over 500 Black business owners have made their way through the space. They still meet there every Saturday from noon to 5 p.m., with the new exception of Fourth Street Live Events.
“I loved the atmosphere there," said Lili’s Children’s Boutique Owner Lisa Glenn. She started her business during the pandemic and it's taken off. She credits MELANnaire's Marketplace as a source of innovation and inspiration.
Tameaka Francois owns Love by Francois; the store's name is a tribute to her father's Haitian heritage. Selling everything from tutus to customizable coffee mugs, she built her business from nothing.
Like many other members of MELANnaine Marketplace, she thinks of her children as she works through the weekend. “They will know how to start a business, they will know how to advertise, to ship, to promote, to create. And they will all see that from me.”
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