For years, Essential Elements owner Melanie Whaley sold bedazzled Juneteenth T-shirts, with sayings like “Juneteenth Queen” and “Free-ish and fierce.”

This year, the items are back at the Avalon Park store and selling better than previous years.

“Each year that’s gone by, we’ve tried to build momentum with Juneteenth,” said Whaley, who has operated her store for 38 years. “I’m excited about the fact that it is being much more recognized as each year comes.”

Juneteenth, celebrated Thursday, marks the date when the last enslaved people in the U.S. learned they were free, which occurred June 19, 1865, in Galveston, Texas. It was made a federal holiday in 2021, about a year after the George Floyd protests and the Black Lives Matter movement prompted social change and a push to support more Black-owned businesses.

This year, many Chicago area Black-owned businesses expressed optimism that community support will continue, even after the holiday. But some are finding the excitement around supporting Black businesses has slowed, making Juneteenth sales reflect any other holiday.

Whaley typically hosts a sale at her store but decided to add something new this year — an email to customers about what Juneteenth means to her. She wrote about her grandmother, a civil rights activist, whose work allowed her to eventually open Essential Elements.

“I don’t think you can just open your door on Juneteenth and … think people are gonna come in because it’s Juneteenth and you’re a Black-owned business. You gotta put yourself out there,” Whaley said.

‘Spending power’

Rayvon Fouché, professor at Northwestern University, said supporting Black-owned businesses is one way to celebrate Juneteenth.

“It’s a very difficult time for Black folks,” he said. “The collapse of all DEI efforts from the federal level down makes it a moment for Black people to express their power. … So one of the ways you can express your power is through your money and your spending power.”

Semicolon Books said it received a flood of support during the summer of 2020, but the business still struggled to keep its doors open, eventually closing in April.

Danielle Mullen, owner of Semicolon Bookstore Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

But a Kickstarter fund in March allowed owner Danielle Moore to raise $32,346 and partner with Muse Coffee Studio to create an additional revenue stream.

While the cafe awaits final permitting, Moore said the West Town bookstore will reopen Thursday and host a celebratory Juneteenth “kickback.”

“We always have an influx of people on Juneteenth, which is why we open,” Moore said. “I do like creating a space for Black people to come celebrate Juneteenth. And we have an influx of people, an influx of support and we have a good time.”

Chicago-based supplement brand Black Girl Vitamins said the company’s biggest sales day was on Juneteenth in 2024.

Founded in 2021, the company focuses on improving health outcomes for Black women, providing vitamins for issues like vitamin D deficiency and polycystic ovary syndrome.

“Our customers, who are mostly Black women, are excited about Juneteenth. They want to support a Black-owned brand on Juneteenth,” said Jennifer Juma, Black Girl Vitamin’s chief strategy officer.

The company offers a discount code around the holiday and partners with an artist to create commemorative packaging designs. It co-sponsored the Juneteenth Freedom Market on Tuesday night, where dozens of Black-owned businesses gathered at The Salt Shed. The market was attended by more than 500 people, Juma said.

“Juneteenth definitely seems like it’s grown now, almost like the way Fourth of July is big,” she said.

Highs and lows

Classy Closet owner Emmanuel Wilder hopes sales at the Evanston consignment shop tops last year. The shop has operated at 701 Washington St. since 2003.

Wilder said last year’s Juneteenth sales rose 15%, compared to an average day. He remembers customers saying they were looking to shop Black-owned businesses that day.

Classy Closet owner Emmanuel Wilder at his Evanston consignment shop. Zubaer Khan/Sun-Times

“It’s a gradual uptick,” he said. “I think it’ll be even more as the years pass.”

But he doesn’t have plans to tout the business is Black-owned.

“I try and stay away from that because that could be just as detrimental as it is good, in some cases, particularly now with the political environment the way it is,” he said. “So I try and go neutral. … I hope you’re coming in for the products I have, not necessarily because I’m Black. But if you do come in because I’m Black, that’s OK too.”

Soul Veg City, a vegan soul food restaurant in Grand Crossing, reopened at its current location on Juneteenth in 2021, with former Mayor Lori Lightfoot attending its ribbon cutting event.

Co-owner Arel Israel said Juneteenth was initially a busy holiday with “an enormous influx of business.”

“We were quite surprised, to be honest, but we were really happy for it,” Israel said. “Then the following year, we saw the same thing. I always remember [because] I was there literally all day long, and I couldn’t get out to some Juneteenth events because we were so busy.”

But the last two years have been similar to a normal day, he said. When Juneteenth was made a federal holiday, people were more interested in celebrating, Israel said.

“When something is new, everybody is on it,” he said. “And you know, once it died down and it’s set in, everybody kind of goes back to their norm.”