We were lucky to catch up with Layla Sewell recently and have shared our conversation below.
Layla, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
I have always been a proponent of supporting Black businesses to decrease the Black wealth gap. Many times, I was frustrated with limited options to support Black brands in person. It would take a long time to get my products or it was not what I expected. I wanted to be able to shop these brands in person. In my search of Black businesses to support, I found that there are plenty of Black brands that make everyday products – but they were only online or out of state. I couldn’t believe I never heard of such companies. I was amazed that there were Black companies who made toothpaste, deodorant, sunscreen, cleaning products and more. I was hesitant to purchase because I didn’t know what I was going to get. Out of the frustrations and limitations, I came up with the concept of a Black department store. There are many online outlets of Black businesses; however, I wanted to create a tangible shopping experience where customers can see, touch and smell the products. I also wanted the community to know that Black businesses are not only involved in hair and skin care; that we can fulfill everyday needs in grooming, cleaning and more. BOPs creates a shopping experience where Black businesses are supported and Black Americans are celebrated with its first location in Columbia, South Carolina. BOPs is a retail store where the variety of items are made by Black creators from household cleaning products to health and beauty, home décor, and more!
Not just Black-owned, but our products are good for your body and our planet. Our cleaning and personal care products are eco-friendly and non-toxic with natural alternatives to commercial-grade and toxic chemicals.
BOPs offers quality products that are mostly sold online and brings them to the community for a cultural in-store experience.
Layla, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I am the owner and operator of BOPs Enterprises LLC that runs our shop BOPs. I also wear many hats as a wife, mother, school social worker and real estate investor. My passion to start BOPs was fueled by the frustrations encountered with limited options of purchasing everyday items produced by Black businesses. This led me to create a tangible shopping experience where Black businesses are supported and Black Americans are celebrated. I am a California native with roots in South Carolina and I have always been a connector in my array of experiences. With my nonprofit organization, Cinematic Images Foundation, I connected Black and Latino film images to audiences. With my nonprofit Awaken the Greatness Foundation, I connected families to community resources and financial education. Thirdly, as a Real Estate Investor, I connect renters with not-so-great portfolios to nice homes. This latest venture, BOPs is a mini department store connecting Black businesses to consumers. With a background in filmmaking and running non-profit organizations, I have the creative and business mindset to take BOPs to a franchise-able opportunity. I know cannot do this alone and thus I connect to multiple mentors from the City of Columbia and local organizations. It imperative to leverage professionals for BOPs to be successful. My drive to decrease the Black wealth gap and create generational wealth for my own family, drives me to keep moving forward despite the challenges of building a brand in a new environment.
Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?
Being a mom and pop shop, client relationships is key. I think of Mr. Sam and his family who first came in and shared about their autistic son who is in high school. One of my weaknesses is recognizing faces; but with this particular family, I immediately connect to. They are frequent flyers of our laundry detergent and skin care because they see the value of a non-toxic home. Every time they come, it’s like cheers. They get a loud welcome and I ask about the family. I feel like their teenagers are my teenagers. That’s what drives me; the relationship building being a corner shop in the neighborhood. Another example of brand loyalty is when a customer came into our shop who bought nails from our vendor in Minnesota. The customer contacted the Minnesota vendor for more custom nails and later came back in the shop to buy some items at BOPs. This is what it means to connect Black businesses to consumers.
How did you build your audience on social media?
I built our social media audience by identifying local influencers. Since my business is a physical local location, it did not make sense to link with influencers who had a base out of Columbia. I identified a couple of local influencers and my reach quadrupled. Hashtags also helped. I had people come into the shop from out of town because they saw our TikTok posts. Using hashtags that represented Columbia is how they found BOPs. The customers came to Columbia for a wedding and wanted to check us out and saw that were in the city they were visiting. I also had customers who came from neighboring cities who loved our cause and wanted to check us out. We are unique because we emphasize having an in-person experience and we found that customers still prefer a tangible shopping experience.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.weshopbops.com
- Instagram: @weshopbops
- Facebook: facebook.com/weshopbops
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/bops-enterprises-columbia?osq=BOPs
- Other: TikTok: @weshopbops