"The Colored Merchants Association"(1929)

For two months in the spring of 1929,a group of African American grocery store owners in
Winston-Salem organized public lectures,meetings,exhibits,and foot tasting that attracted large audiences and national attention.The grocers were joinging a new cooperative business group called the Colored Merchants Association (CMA),which had begun in Alabama.On April 17,they announced in a local newspaper and ambitious plan to create " a movement looking towards the salvation of the Negro Independent grocery stores,through cooperative buying and teaching the lesson and value
of advertising."National Negro Business League leaders promoted the grocers' efforts as a national model for African American businessmen working in an increasingly competitive marketplace.African American started successful business communities and created vibrant neighborhoods in the segregated South.Local grocery stores became the most common small business run by African American merchants.That's a big reason why the Winston-Salem grocers made such an an impact.In 1929 the city directory listed 373 grocery stores.African Americans operated more than 30 percent (128 of them),making up by far the largest owned faced new challenges because of important changes in retail trade.