Officials held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday, June 7 to celebrate the grand opening of Brooklyn Maid’s second City Point location.
Like the first Industry City store, which opened in May 2023, the Downtown Brooklyn store will feature products from Brooklyn makers and entrepreneurs that celebrate the city’s rich diversity.
Brooklyn Made is an initiative spearheaded by the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce to promote and support small, local, minority-owned and women-owned businesses throughout Kings County.
Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Randy Peers explained that the stores are about Brooklyn’s independent makers and designers, with a focus on getting their products in front of a customer base they might not normally reach.
“We did a lot of work on the ground in communities and neighborhoods, literally knocking on doors and meeting with small business owners, makers, designers and, in some cases, a huge number of creative people who were making things in their own kitchens,” Piers told Brooklyn Paper.
Due to the success of its first store in Industry City, the business promotion group jumped at the chance to open a second store in City Point.
In addition to products from Brooklyn-based makers, the City Point store will carry items from makers in El Salvador, Singapore, Pakistan and Turkey in a section called “Brooklyn Goes Global.”
“If you look at El Salvador, for example, these bags were made by single mothers in El Salvador from recycled plastic,” Piers said. “We’re really proud of this new element and are excited to introduce some of our international partners. Brooklyn is an international brand, so it makes a lot of sense.”
Chrissy Moore, Wells Fargo’s senior vice president of community relations for the Northeast region, told Brooklyn Paper that the bank was a philanthropic supporter of the first Brooklyn Maid store in Industry City. Wells Fargo supported the city store with a $250,000 grant.
“Wells Fargo is committed to developing and growing small businesses,” Moore said. “When the opportunity arose from the success of our first stores, [in] We had heard that Industry City was planning to expand City Point, and there was nothing to prevent us from supporting this expansion.”
Friday’s celebration was attended by a number of Brooklyn dignitaries, including Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs Commissioner Laurie Cumbo, Brooklynorg President and CEO Dr. Jocelyn Rayner and Kevin Kim, the outgoing director of the city’s Department of Small Business Services.
Reynoso said events like the grand opening of Brooklyn Maid’s second store are “wake-up” moments for him.
“This store really represents what it means to build equity and speak to the greatness of Brooklyn,” Beep told the crowd, “because what we’re doing here is not allowing big corporations to dictate what Brooklyn should be.”
Reynoso thanked former Borough President Marty Markowitz, who served as Brooklyn’s top cheerleader from 2002 to 2013.
“Marty Markowitz has done a great job of building the Brooklyn brand. There’s no other place where you can put the borough’s name on something and raise prices by 50 percent,” Reynoso joked.
Kim said the store concept is one of the most innovative ideas he has ever seen.
“This idea of bringing together a bunch of entrepreneurs and allowing them to showcase their passion and what they love is a great model,” Kim said.
Gonzales noted that providing opportunities for young people often translates to safety.
“Having this store here means that when people walk by, they’ll look in and realize, ‘yes, I have an opportunity to do something great in life.’ As district attorney, I make this really clear. I wake up every day with a passion to keep our community safe,” Gonzalez said.
Dr. Reiner echoed Mr. Gonzalez, saying the store helps promote public safety, not policing.
“Public safety connects people to the economic mobility that’s happening in Brooklyn and New York City.” “What makes people successful is their ability to connect with economic mobility,” Dr. Reiner said. [Brooklyn Made Store] That is it.”
Because Brooklyn is the hottest neighborhood on Earth, Cumbo predicted the store will become a “global phenomenon.”
“In Brooklyn, New York, we have this secret sauce and everyone wants to be a part of it,” she said. “Everyone wants to know what we’re drinking, what we’re eating.”
Products sold on Brooklyn Made range from skincare, apparel, home goods and jewelry to games and toys. One of the 150 makers whose products are featured on Brooklyn Made is Anjali Bhargava, whose brand, Anjali’s Cup, sells turmeric and chai blends for everyday wellness routines.
Bhargava has been selling her wares in brick-and-mortar stores for nearly a decade, but she told Brooklyn Paper that selling her products in a store dedicated to Brooklyn-based entrepreneurs is “great.”
“I think it’s great to send people here because I know they’ll not only find my products, but also products made by a lot of people who are my friends,” Bhargava said. “Most people who are looking for small products or small businesses might know my product line, but they don’t know other people’s product lines, so it’s a win for everybody, so it’s a great feeling. So this is a great place to find those brands as well.”
Tameika Lewis is the owner of vegan skincare company BklynBarSoap, which first inspired her to start her own business when she was looking for a holistic skincare solution to help treat her son’s eczema.
“The product they’re giving us today is not good for us,” Lewis explained.[Pharmaceutical companies] I was taking a lot of shortcuts and wanted to stop being frustrated with my struggling 7-year-old.”
All of her products are made with clean, plant-based ingredients using pure essential oils and contain calming and healing seaweed, charcoal, spirulina, aloe vera and oatmeal.
“We started with bar soaps and then moved on to butters, oils, face oils, scrubs, all that good stuff.” Lewis said: “Once I discovered that controlling my eczema and clearing my skin was the key, I wanted to share my story with the world, and four years later, here we are at Brooklyn Made.”
