Princess Jenkins, proud owner of Harlem-based boutique The Brownstone, was recently awarded a $5,000 grant after being named one of the winners of the first Carver Federal Savings Bank and The Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce 2022 Minority Women-Owned Business Pitch Competition. The goal of the competition? To get minority women-owned businesses to pitch a plan that will help make their businesses more environmentally friendly.
Jenkins, whose store specializes in selling, styling, and tailoring women’s clothing from sizes 12-20, won the competition by pitching a virtual catalog for her boutique, as opposed to the 200,000-page print catalogs that would traditionally go to her 5,000 customers. In her pitch, Jenkins included a shocking fact to help put into perspective how important her plan is for the environment. “We are going to save the lives of 200 trees,” she said. “And if you were to line them up they would go across 125th street from beginning to end, and you’d still have trees left.” In addition to a virtual catalog, the entrepreneur will also use part of the grant money to install environmentally friendly lighting inside the boutique. Read more
