KANSAS CITY, Mo. — KC Black Owned has created a rewards system to encourage the support of Black-owned businesses year-round.
By purchasing a 2023 Kick Start keychain, consumers can visit a participating location, present the keychain and receive a percentage off their purchase.
The system was created in hopes of bringing exposure to businesses that are less likely to access lucrative business opportunities due to racial discrimination, according to a 2023 study by Harvard.
“I was looking for a way to bring some more visibility and awareness to our brick-and-mortar spaces here in the Kansas City metro area,” said Chelsey, owner of KC Black Owned.
In the era of businesses offering products online to be shipped to consumers’ homes, Chelsey believes activating the community to “get up out of their space and come out” can have a “different effect on why you support a particular business.”
“We want to kickstart and have the consumers and the people in the community become a catalyst for change to really help close the racial wealth gap amongst our counterparts,” she said.
Chelsey says circulating more income into KC-area Black-owned businesses provides “endless opportunities.” Employers could invest in new employees, camera systems or even outdoor spaces.
Participating business The Combine: Deli, Pizza & Taps offers 10% off to customers with keychains.
Alan Kneeland, the restaurant's owner, says the initiative brings “awareness to businesses that may get looked over.”
“Everybody is getting ready for the NFL Draft, and to get that extra exposure is something me as a small business can appreciate," he said.
Kneeland’s love for his business as well as his customers is what encouraged him to join Chelsey’s Kick Start campaign.
“This isn’t something that was just thrown together,” Kneeland said. “This is something that will help us for, you know, months and years to come. It gives us that exposure that we wouldn’t normally get on an everyday basis.”
Keychains are valid until January 2024. A list of participating locations can be found HERE.
Chelsey tells KSHB 41 KC Black Owned hopes to add more businesses. The online list will be updated as appropriate.
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