Black Owned Businesses on the Southside: Dead, or Dying: Hope for the Future?

By Kofi Quaye

About six years ago, the owners of the South Salina Shoe Store let it be known within the business community that they had decided to retire, and ready to close down the store, but would give serious consideration to any reasonable offer made to buy it.

Located on the corner of South Salina and Brighton Streets, it is the only one of its kind in the entire Southside. Not your average shoe store: It specializes in unique footwear made to cater to those with special needs. It has been in business for so long that it has become one of the landmarks on that section of South Salina Street.

A block down the street, Carol Perry heard about the decision of the owners of the South Salina Shoe Store to close it down and wondered what could be done to keep it. "The neighborhood had to retain the shoe store," she said. Problem was; she had a similar decision to make; she was struggling with keeping her own business afloat.

She was the owner of the Southside Newsstand, the only bookstore on the Southside. Like the South Salina Shoe Store, her newsstand was in a class by itself. It was a combination bookstore and community center. She stocked rare books, back copies of community based publications as well as daily and weekly newspapers from Syracuse and other cities. It had become the place in the community to meet for the literati, academicians, community leaders and researchers from area higher institutions. Politicians of all stripes convened meetings there and knew they would draw a crowd any day of week.

But the Southside Newsstand was in desperate throes. Perry was in the midst of making a decision to shut down, relocate or sell. Running the business by herself had drained her personal resources, and had had adverse effect on her health. Her motivation and enthusiasm had also ebbed considerably.

The neighborhood faced a crisis. If both stores closed, it would be deprived of two iconic businesses providing essential services that would be hard to replace.

Enter Amatula Yamini, well known community resident, known for her involvement in real estate and community activism. She emerged as the buyer of the South Salina Shoe Store. As a result of the move she made, the shoe store continues to thrive, still serving as an outlet for shoes. It has another unique characteristic; it has the flavor of a store selling the latest trends in footwear.

The Southside Newsstand didn't fare as well. Perry managed to hang in there for as long as she could and went out of business.

The story of the demise of the South Southside Newsstand and the revival of South Salina Shoe Store in many ways reflects the tragedies and triumphs and the ebbs and flows of businesses on the Southside, particularly those owned by African Americans.

"We are here because we believe that businesses in the community should be owned by people who live in the community, "said Hassan Yamini. He and his wife, Amatula Yamini own and run the South Salina Shoe Store.

"It has not been easy running the store, says Hassan Yamini. They have tried to figure out a way to keep their old customer base, while keeping up with current trends in the industry. And that has not been easy. It's been tough and support from the community has been rather slow," he said.

What happened to African American owned businesses located on the few blocks between Colvin and Brighton reveals a pattern that has characterized African American owned businesses on the Southside for a considerable period of time. On the one hand there are non African American owned businesses that have operated for decades that are still active and busy, and drawing customers from the neighborhood. These include Dunk and Bright on the corner of Brighton and S. Salina, Midas Mufflers, and Gypsum.

On the other hand, there are boarded up store fronts once occupied by African Americans. Those still in business project an image of businesses that seem to be relatively inactive.

"These stores look like they're on their last breadths," said an observer who couldn't help but notice the difference in outlook between stores on that part of town and those on the north side of Salina Street.

Businesses began by African Americans and located within the stretch of blocks between Colvin and Brighton have had histories similar to what has happened on the rest of the Southside. With the notable exception of Bruce's Carwash and Locksmith, also on the corner of Brighton and South Salina, Merelee's, and Branch's and Percy's Furniture Store, a number of African American owned businesses have appeared on the scene and disappeared just as fast. A dollar store that was viewed as a sure fire success suffered a similar fate; it went out of business after a few months It was in the same location where a furniture store, owned by Arab Americans, is flourishing.

So gloomy was the picture that when the topic of businesses on the Southside came up for discussion, most switched into the past tense mode. Neighborhood residents almost always referred to 'back in the day' when the Southside had all kinds of businesses. The future looked bleak.

The plight of the neighborhood was not lost for a number of neighborhood residents. These included community activists and politicians, who began investigating ways to revive businesses on the Southside. Mike Atkins emerged as a key figure. Atkins and other community leaders such as Walt Dixie had access to data indicating that the Southside was economically viable and could support businesses.

Community Activist. Politician. Jail Advovate. Social Worker. Educational Worker. Businesman. Name it and Mike Atkins has done it; or so it seems. He has been a City Councilor, a former director of the Eastside BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB, and founder of Project HEIYP [Helping Incarcerated Young People] and the Concerned Citizen's Action Project. A few years ago, he was city chair of the Democratic Party.

Atkins has emerged as a leading advocate from the community. He knows who to call, where to go and what kind of representations to make to those who make the decisions and wield power in matters relating to jobs, housing, and other community issues.

Reviving businesses on South Salina in particular and Syracuse in general became his focus. South Salina, he says, once boomed with businesses owned and run by men and women who lived in the neighborhood.
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According to Atkins, most of the businesses on the Southside have either closed down or seem to be in the doldrums or on the verge of collapsing. Meanwhile, North Salina is pulsating with new economic life, energy, vigor and confidence; the result of initiatives that utilized city, county, state and neighborhood resources. The contrast between north and south sections of Salina Street is all too obvious, he points out.

"There's no reason why it cannot be replicated on South Salina," says Atkins. "It's not going to be easy, but it can be done.

Atkins cites Amatula Yamini's Salina Shoe Store, as an example of a neighborhood business that is hanging in there under new management; and appears to have succeeded in transforming itself into a brand new neighborhood store. Syracuse University sponsored South Side Innovation Center has also been cited as one of the results of the efforts of Atkins and others to get help for neighborhood businesses. The center provides small businesses with low rent, onsite business advice and other services.

According to Atkins, a few community based organizations have played a significant role in the formulation and implementation of a broad based strategy that aims at accomplishing the objective of bringing change to the Southside of Syracuse.

"The goal is to increase the number of businesses on South Salina, enhance and energize businesses and bring a better quality of life to the neighborhood", he said.

Top of the priority is a mid sized grocery store. Atkins says he fully supports the efforts being made by Walt Dixie to provide the Southside with a grocery store.

"All we are trying to do is to make it easy for neighborhood residents to have access to a decent grocery store near to them so they don't have to catch the bus to go get groceries, when they need such items as fresh produce and other consumable items," said Atkins.

COMMUNITY REACTION AND SUPPORT
There is skepticism on the part of some inner city residents who see Atkins and Dixie as belonging to an older generation of African American leadership. Others view them as precisely what the neighborhoods need, African American leaders who talk tough, live in the community, know what's happening, and know what to do.
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'I can't do it alone. That's why it is important to have someone like Walt doing what he's doing on South Avenue and Mike Atkins doing what I'm doing on South Salina." said Atkins.

Atkins says a number of factors need to be considered and taken care of: support from the community, cooperation and assistance from downtown, particularly City Hall and the County Executive's Office, and Albany.

"The response has been encouraging, though," said Atkins.

There are indications that the efforts of community activists like Atkins and Dixie are beginning to yield some result. They have managed to get a number of agencies interested in listening to and showing interest in the potential of a resurgent South Salina, all the way from Syracuse City to Albany.

"All I can say is; for the first time in a long time, I have the feeling that great things will happen on the Southside and so I'll just continue to work towards that goal," said Atkins.