City officials, members of the community and merchants at Fox Valley Mall in Aurora kicked off Martin Luther King Day weekend Friday morning with a ceremony honoring minority- and women-owned businesses at the shopping center.
The event included dozens of established women- or minority-owned businesses while welcoming six others that are brand new to the mall including Calla Lilly, Kathryn’s Place, Las Michoacanas, NBC Wellness and Stretch, Signature Salon and Top Trends.
A message from the city of Aurora inviting people to the event said that the owners of the businesses “embody Dr. King’s focus on economic justice and equitable opportunities for all” and that during Martin Luther King Day weekend “we will reflect on the values Dr. King championed, including unify the community and pursuing dreams and honor his legacy by supporting the growth and success of local businesses.”
Aurora Chief Communications and Equity Officer Clayton Muhammad said it is important to keep King’s “light and legacy alive.”
“We need to keep him in our lives and thoughts as a preacher, and so when we saw the opportunity to highlight a significant milestone at Fox Valley by reaching 50 minority- and women-owned businesses, we wanted to make certain that we featured that to kick off the weekend,” Muhammad said. “Dr. King was a real champion for economic justice and providing equal opportunity as we all know, and he said we must create full employment.”
Muhammad added that it was “important to increase employment capacity if we want people to have equitable lives.”
“The mall is creating opportunities for increased diversity and entrepreneurship,” Muhammad added.
The approximately one-hour program Friday included some introductory remarks celebrating the businesses at the mall followed by a ribbon-cutting at each of the six new sites.
Quint Thompson of Aurora, owner of the new Kathryn’s Place restaurant at the mall, spoke about King’s vision and where he sees things now.
“I think we’ve made some progress in terms of minority opportunities but there’s still a lot to be done,” Thompson said. “I think trailblazing and having new opportunities for Black and minority business owners is setting a path for a lot of great things to come in the future.”
This is the second Kathryn’s Place restaurant owned by Thompson in the city, with the other in downtown Aurora, which opened several years ago.
“I think we set out to create healthy alternatives for the community and add a healthier lifestyle for all,” he said. “The mall created a hub and a social opportunity for us to do that and we’re excited about it. I feel having all of these minority businesses together here kind of creates a network. Sometimes, we all get divided and into our little hubs of isolation and to have everybody be the same kind of demographic at the same time creates that sense of unity for everybody.”
Steven Yee, general manager of Fox Valley Mall, is pleased with the diversity of ownership of the businesses at the shopping center.
“We are very proud to have these minority businesses and the opening of six more,” he said. “It shows our support for the community and shows we listen to our constituents and our patrons because that’s what they want.”
Curtiss Browley and his wife, Schlise, own Banana Pudding, one of the 50 minority- or women-owned businesses at Fox Valley Mall. Banana Pudding has been at the mall for three years.
The growth of other minority- and women-owned businesses at the mall, he said, “has been great.”
“It gave us an opportunity and we’re just a small business that’s trying to grow,” he said.
Schlise called the city’s recognition event Friday “a wonderful idea. I like that the mall – they really helped us out.”
“I think the mall helps by bringing a lot of different demographics in and then they make sure they have different events to bring in even more people,” she said. “To start off Martin Luther King weekend like this was really great on their part.
“I think this definitely is reflecting the vision that King spoke about years ago – to have as many minority businesses in a mall this size – I think that’s beyond his vision,” she added. “It’s good for children that come into this mall with all these minority businesses that it is possible.”
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
