In Brooklyn, A Growing Business Rooted in a Dream
By Umi Grigsby
"I was born to be an entrepreneur, just like my father and his father before him," says Richelieu W. Dennis.
The 34-year-old Brooklyn businessman has taken his family legacy, along with a strong appreciation for his native West African culture and traditions, and translated them into the lucrative Sundial Group of Companies.
Grossing well "over 1 million dollars annually," the Sundial umbrella - a 100% Black-owned manufacturer, wholesaler, and retailer of traditional personal care products, flavors and fragrances - includes Sundial Fragrances & Flavors, Inc., the Nubian Heritage personal care products brand, and the Nubian Heritage Marchés in Brooklyn, Queens, and Harlem.
In addition, there is Nicholas, an Afrocentric store featuring urban and traditional clothing, and Madawa, a botanical store still in the process of being set up.
The Nubian Heritage project began with a dream in 1992, when then street vendor Richelieu Dennis, along with business partner and childhood friend from Liberia, Nyema Tubman, recognized the dearth of quality beauty products for African Americans. Dennis, who had graduated the year before from Boston’s Babson College with degrees in Finance, Investments and Entrepreneurial Studies, began experimenting with his own recipes using natural ingredients to create the first iteration of Nubian Heritage products.
At the time, he also recognized that in addition to the absence of product there was also limited access to realistic knowledge of African history and artifacts with a fashionable black aesthetic.
"For instance, when you’re trying to find home décor pieces,” he explains, you can't walk into Bloomingdales and find pieces that speak to you and the culture. The selection and quality is limited".
So, in part, he founded Sundial Fragrances & Flavors, Inc., out of this frustration combined with the near impossibility to find a mainstream retailer willing to take a gamble on his homemade products.
His entrepreneurial spirit drove his need to fill that void in the community and vice versa, he says.
"I wanted to provide a lifestyle center for the community, a place where we can come to get our wellness, beauty, and entertainment products."
The first Nubian Heritage Marche was born in Brooklyn in February 2001, followed by the marche in Queens in February 2002, and culminating, most recently, with the addition that excites him the most: a third New York location in Harlem that opened in 2004.
Housed in the historical National Black Theater building, the Harlem marché is the flagship location for Nubian Heritage. The marche has hosted attractions that have included Harlem Book Fair events, a slumber party with the author Deborah Gregory and a book signing with the author Zane.
As it is the case with the two other locations in Brooklyn and Queens, the market is an Afrocentric mélange of a Barnes and Noble, a Tower Music, an Urban Outfitters, and a Bath & Body Works. With its hardwood floors, minimalist design and urban feel, Nubian Heritage stores offer an impressive range of merchandise ranging from books, music, and clothing to collectible art, hair and body products. It also opens up its space regularly to serve as a "watering hole" for community events.
The Harlem store also features a SheaSpa, a full-service spa and salon focusing on natural African products, Boma Coffee & Tea Co., an African-themed café serving coffee and delicacies imported from the African continent, Nubian Garden's Florist and Dee's Art Gallery
Highly ambitious and multifaceted, the business project seems to be the fruition of Dennis’ determination to be a successful businessman and his early vision of what he thought he would do with his life. Forging a philosophical link between the predominantly African American communities they serve and the cultural traditions of Africa, Dennis has found a way to combine his business background, with his own experiences growing up in Liberia to create a unique business model.
"The Nubian Heritage Philosophy is not any different from the philosophy that most African Americans share in raising families…The people that work in our businesses take ownership of our business." The success of the company is create a family that extends from within the company out to the community
Sia Pickett, the "Village Leader" or manager of the Harlem marché, explains that the company is a tribe of people, providing links to the community. When asked how she finds her employees, she explains that they come from within the neighborhood, and that once hired, these "tribe members" then invite their friends and families into the markets. These extended family members then feel the need to support the market by default the family. Dennis echoes this perspective. "Most of the staff has come from inside referrals because the business has grown; and some people just walk off the street into the store. They all want to be a part of what they see as an important movement". The staff is an important part of spreading the message. "Our people grew up and live in the communities we serve," he adds, "so they have a vested interest in developing their neighborhoods."
Whether its masked professionalism or sincere customer service, all the stores are abuzz with friendly staffs. With the tribe in place, says Dennis, everyone is entrusted with responsibility and is equipped with the tools needed to handle their specific task. "We provide our people with the leadership expertise and guidance to handle issues on a case by case basis."
According to Tiffany Carter, Associate Director of Marketing and Communications, there are quarterly Tribe Meetings where all employees from the manufacturing plant, all stores and administration) gather to review results, discuss new strategies, and plan for the future. In this manner, a proprietary sense is nurtured and encouraged in all employees from the village leaders to the tribe members, a message that is passed down from the tribe leader himself
Dennis, tribe leader and CEO, is driven by his commitment to his extended family members. "The driving question is always are the needs of our customers being met?" With that in mind, all of the stores are specifically tailored to the unique needs of the neighborhood they serve. "We try to keep decision-making as close to the customer as possible. Everything from product staffing to lay-out is influenced by the community. We are not a cookie-cutter retailer. We are a market-specific retailer." According to Rich, the stores are all unique because of the differences in the consumers they "minister to."
"The Brooklyn consumer base is largely of Caribbean descent. In Harlem, there
is a heavier African American population. In Queens there is a high
West Indian influence, also," he says. Dennis attributes the high product turnover and accomplishments of the retailers to this attention to detail.
Seeking to explore markets with the most need, Dennis says his business is hoping to expand their villages out of New York to cities including Washington, Atlanta and Chicago. The Nubian Heritage Villages will continue to be a fusion of contemporary and traditional, providing products for the mind, body, spirit and home, attempting to carve out a central, unifying location in the villages they inhabit.