Seaport Boston and Black Owned Bos. team up for an innovative outdoor market

By Noel Cymone Walker, theGrio

Check out Boston’s dynamic Seaport neighborhood to shop and experience 30 Black-owned businesses.

Traditionally, when you hear mention of Boston, your thoughts may lead you to old America—and the Boston Tea Party, Massachusetts Bay Colony, and historic elite universities such as Harvard. In the present day, Boston’s Seaport neighborhood is elevating visitors past this old way of thinking to introduce a newly imagined contemporary district in a historic metropolis. Over the past month, it has also meant teaming up with Black Owned Bos. to elevate 30 Black-owned businesses in the Greater Boston area. 

Previously populated with parking lots backing the city’s financial district, Boston Seaport has become one of the most vibrant neighborhoods in the country. WS Development became a retail development partner at Seaport Square in 2007. In 2016, they acquired another 12.5 acres along the Seaport Boulevard, now totaling 33 acres of land and 7.6 million square feet of retail, residential, hotel, office, entertainment, civic and cultural uses, as well as signature public open spaces creating a utopian district. 

Seaport is like no other district in the Greater Boston area. At each turn of a corner, there is a medley of things to do and experience including outdoor workout classes, the ICA museum, Okuda statues, art murals, park and harbor spaces (complete with sunscreen dispensers), free library bookcases, beer gardens, shopping, and the most delectable cuisine, all within a 20-block radius. One of its current highlights is the outdoor shopping market, a partnership with Black Owned Bos.

Black Owned Bos. (pronounced “boss) is a business service and consulting agency launched in 2019 as a platform to lift Black-owned businesses throughout the greater Boston area. Online you can find its FREE Public Directory featuring over 1,600 Black-owned businesses in Massachusetts’ Greater Boston area. The agency also specializes in event support, vendor sourcing, outreach, market curation, brand partnerships, one-on-one and cohort consulting and training, retail development, and more. 

The Seaport Black Owned Bos. outdoor market is a landmark collaboration and one of the most exciting retail developments in the city, enabling local and web-based Black-owned businesses to benefit from a larger physical footprint than they would typically access. The opportunity also allows these businesses to test out brick-and-mortar incubator spaces to reimagine their brands in a new capacity. 

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This is one of several recent unique partnerships, including one between Airbnb and NAACP, a partnership between Howard U and Jordan brand, and Jay-Z joining forces with Twitter’s co-founder.

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