Okay, so I’ve been wanting to support more Black-owned businesses lately, and I live near Tacoma, so I figured I’d start there. It’s surprisingly tricky to find a comprehensive list, though! Here’s how I went about my search, and what I found.
Digging In
First, I fired up Google, obviously. I tried a bunch of searches like “Black owned businesses Tacoma” and “Tacoma Black businesses.” The results were… okay. I got some articles and a couple of directory-type sites, but nothing felt super complete or up-to-date.
Then I remembered about social media. I hopped on Instagram and started poking around with hashtags. Things like #BlackOwnedTacoma, #ShopBlackTacoma, and even just #TacomaBusinesses. This actually turned up some good stuff! I found a few businesses that way that weren’t showing up on the bigger websites.
Facebook groups were also a win. Search function helps me find a local group, and I could found many busniesses infomation.
Putting It All Together
After I spent a few hours searching, I started to compile my own list. I used a simple spreadsheet to keep track of everything. I included:
- Business Name
- Type of Business (restaurant, shop, service, etc.)
- Address (if they had a physical location)
- Website/Social Media Link (so I could easily find them again)
- Notes (anything interesting I learned about them)
It’s still a work in progress, for sure. I’m planning to keep adding to it as I discover more places. And of course, I need to actually go to these businesses and check them out! I’m excited to explore what Tacoma has to offer and support some awesome entrepreneurs.
It took my whole afternoon but I got what I want, that is what matter.
