I think that there are a lot of people who start businesses either with income that they already have, or because they have networks that are highly funded. MSR: What has been your biggest challenge in owning a business?ĭS: I think the biggest challenge is money. We have an art fair that we regularly host and have events that are designed just to bring people into the space so they can be together, and not necessarily focused on selling books. We did speed-dating last month, and we’re going to do that again. We also do events that are not book-focused. Everyone was like, ‘Yeah, you should do that.’ And so, it all just kind of snowballed from there. That became my dream, to start a Black-owned bookstore here. MSR: What inspired you to start your business?ĭS: I was looking for a Black-owned bookstore to support, and I realized that there weren’t any in Minnesota.

Paul this past October-where she has four employees-she operated as an online bookstore, occasionally opening at pop-up sites or other locations around the Twin Cities, including sharing space with a local tattoo parlor.

I wanted to be in community with people and connecting with them face-to-face, versus just sitting in an office in the suburbs working all day.”īefore moving into Black Garnet’s current brick-and-mortar space on University Ave. During that break from work, I realized that’s what I really want to be doing. I was getting involved in protests, rallies and cleanups-things like that. “After the murder of George Floyd, I took a break to focus on community work.

“I was working in the tech industry in 2020,” said the 30-year-old Sims of her journey to becoming a Black bookstore owner. When Dionne Sims (DS) decided to launch Black Garnet Books in the summer of 2020, her life was headed in a totally different direction. Photo by Chris Juhn Dionne Sims A community-focused bookstore and a culturally welcoming space

Books like dead space