Photograph by Stephanie Eley
In June 2024, The Sistah Shop, a local retailer in Atlantic Station that features more than 100 Black woman–owned brands, issued an alarm call on social media. The store, which had opened two years prior, was close to shuttering. “While it’s been an incredible run, these past months have been incredibly difficult, and we’ve been barely staying afloat,” Aisha Taylor Issah, The Sistah Shop’s owner and CEO of the Sistahs in Business Expo, said in an Instagram video, where she announced a fundraising campaign to try to save the shop. “I don’t believe God brought us this far just to bring us this far. This is my last chance to keep us open and alive.”
It was the chance The Sistah Shop needed. Issah’s plea caught the attention of two local business leaders: entrepreneur Nehemiah Davis and podcaster and influencer David Shands. Together with several other influencers, they galvanized their hundreds of thousands of Instagram followers to save The Sistah Shop from the brink, organizing a surprise flash mob of more than 150 people who descended on the store on September 8. Thanks to their shopping spree, Issah—who had no idea of what Davis and Shands had planned—had her best day in sales, making close to $12,000 in just a few hours. The viral publicity was its own financial boon, bringing in new shoppers and fundraising dollars.
“Every single person who had a hand in making today happen . . . it was the most beautiful display of cooperative economics and Black support that I have ever seen in my life,” Issah said in a follow-up video.
Having given The Sistah Shop a boost, Shands and Davis have stayed connected with Issah to provide business advice. “They have continued to check on us and provide support,” she says. The retail industry is still uneven, but for now, the company has been holding. The Sistah Shop has doubled its pledge to incubate and provide space for up-and-coming Black-owned businesses.
For many, it’s a reminder that Atlanta is the Black Mecca, where opportunities abound and the ability to be Black without parameters exists. It’s been the city’s driving force for over a century and continues today; there’s no place like it.
Back to 21 Reasons We Love Atlanta.
This article appears in our February 2025 issue.
