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Editor's Note Black Beauty Supply Event Set Marc Birenbaum Executive Editor mbirenbaum@creativeage.com It includes classes, a store visit and an in-the-field experience: how to select a profitable location. 8 January 2014 | beautystorebusiness.com IF YOU'RE BLACK AND AN ASPIRING beauty store owner or even an existing one, consider attending Beauty Supply Institute's Beauty Supply Entrepreneurship Winter 2014 Conference on Saturday, March 15, and Sunday, March 16, at The Westin Houston Memorial City in Houston. The Atlanta-based institute (beauty supplyinstitute.com) has trained thousands worldwide, and educates through online courses, consulting, do-it-yourself materials, a nine-month program and conferences. This is its fifth year of presenting conferences. Institute founder Devin Robinson was a victim of poor customer service while shopping in a beauty supply a decade ago: An Asian-American owner wielding a golf club pressured him to shop or leave. "When I opened my first of three locations almost 10 years ago, I thought that my situation was isolated to me and my community," says Robinson. "I had no idea that this was a national—and since offering the conferences, really a global problem. We've opened [stores] or trained owners in Canada, Switzerland, the Caribbean, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Don't get me wrong, not all non-blacks are standing in the way of black owners. But with 96% of the customer base being black and only 3% of the owners being black, it's obvious that there are some impediments—which were confirmed when I became an owner too." Past conference have taken place in New York City, St. Louis, Cleveland, Atlanta, Los Angeles and Las Vegas. "In the first year, we visited four cities we felt had a strong interest in store ownership," states Roschel Davis, vice president of operations and academic affairs at the institute. "After getting a good idea of the best schedule, we decided to keep the conference twice per year—with the summer conference being in Atlanta every year, and the winter conference in the Midwest or on the West Coast. We're still tweaking the best place to hold our winter conferences, but Texas and California are at the top of the list." This conference consists of specific store opening-type classes, take-home materials, lunch, a store visit and an in-the-field experience on how to select a profitable location. Classes are: "How to Avoid Industry Pitfalls"; "Uncovering Store Revenues"; "Determining Your Start-Up Costs"; "Automation 101"; "Getting Distributor Accounts"; and "Science to Store Layout." Not too long ago Beauty Supply Institute celebrated the opening of its fiftieth store since it began helping others in 2007, and has been credited for bringing more than $10 million in revenue to urban communities across America. "We are seeing the impact slowly, but our efforts to take it back are definitely happening," adds Robinson. There is early-bird registration as well as a one day-only registration fee for the conference. To register, visit beautysupplyconference.com or call Anne Holder, 404.551.4398. ■