NYC's Mercantile Mayhem: AOC and Lina Khan in the Bronx, Trademark Bully Withdraws, Silk Style, Deranged Agenda47 and Momo Yak Belt Winner
A newsletter about the survival of independent businesses in New York City with a focus on immigrant-owned, storefront retail and CPG enterprises.
AOC AND FTC CHAIR LINA KHAN VISIT THE BRONX FOR A CONVERSATION ABOUT LOCAL BUSINESSES VS MONOPOLIES
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the FTC Chair Lina Khan met with Bronx small business owners and residents this past Friday evening to talk about the economic challenges independent businesses face. Thanks to Small Business Majority, an organization that supports small businesses across the US, I was able to attend. inside the historic Bank Note building where US currency was once printed, the room buzzed with local business owners, residents, advocates and press—including veteran journalist Lesley Stahl. Ocasio-Cortez opened the discussion with several local economic stats.
According to Ocasio-Cortez, the average middle wage earner would have to work 104 hours a week to afford a one-bedroom apartment, 64% of housing purchases in Manhattan are conducted in all cash transactions, grocery store consolidation has given giant companies the ability to increase their prices by 79% since 2019 and one in five children in the city are going hungry. “It is absolutely unsustainable,” said Ocasio-Cortez and continued on with the state of local healthcare.
Ocasio-Cortez and Khan sat at the front of the room along with four locals: a pharmacy owner, an emergency medicine MD, a tenant of a predatory landlord and the Executive Director of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, Bhairavi Desai. Each person spoke about their experiences fighting back against corporate power and monopolies in their particular sectors.
Multiple mergers and acquisitions coupled with technology (for better or worse) and a firehose of private equity funding has led to a concentration of power and money among a few over the past decades. This oligopoly-centric landscape not only hinders entrepreneurship, but also creates more expensive products and services for consumers, case in point, the potential Kroger Albertsons supermarket merger by Danielle Kaye (a gift New York Times article).
It was refreshing to hear Khan talk about looking out for the consumers’ best interests, whether it’s challenging mergers or the practice of non-competes. Many people in the US think we should have a free and open market—let the chips fall where they may—and regulation is for those sissies in Europe (I am kidding, but only slightly). Unfortunately, some regulation is needed in the US, as there are just too many business owners and investors who need more power and money to feel whole. There is no such thing as too many mansions, yachts, cars, collectibles or insane bonuses for those types of people, even if it comes at the cost of exploiting others. Note, these are not the types of business owners I tend to cover.
The event was videotaped and can be watched here, the sound is a little muffled but understandable.
CHILI CRUNCH TRADEMARK BULLY WITHDRAWS
Over the weekend I was alerted by Suzann Moskowitz of The Moskowitz Firm that Momofuku has officially withdrawn their trademark application with the USPTO for the term “chili crunch”. If anyone is unacquainted with the case, I wrote about David Chang/Momofuku’s attempt to trademark this generic term for the Guardian in April 2024.
My article alerted people in the sector of the legal facts, but the AAPI community made the story go viral, many small business owners were pissed and rightly so. Thank you to the entrepreneurs I interviewed for trusting me with their stories. To recap, the trademark for “chili crunch” has been abandoned by Momofuku, Momofuku still owns “chile crunch” through a previous legal settlement but it’s up for renewal October 2024.
THE BUUNNI ROASTER IS OPEN AND LOST PATTERN’S FIRST NYFW SHOW
I attended two events over the past week for immigrant-owned enterprises. First, the official ribbon cutting at The Roasting Room by Buunni, a new coffee co-roasting space in the Bronx. It has been launched by the founders of Buunni Coffee, who specialize in, but are not restricted to, Ethiopian beans. Their cafes are located in Washington Heights and Inwood; the new roaster is in Hunts Point. It’s open to anyone interested in roasting their own beans or Buunni’s staff can roast beans, with all sorts of white/private label options. It would make great merch! I have been thinking about an Osmo Blend, it could be called Osmo’s Mullet Toupee Blend. (Osmo, my cat, has a mullet shaped toupee that he wears unironically.)
Second, it was a delight to see the Lost Pattern fashion show during New York Fashion Week. Founded by Yong Wang and Cata Cheng, Lost Pattern designs luscious silk scarves and has expanded to a collection of tropical motifs. I discovered Lost Pattern’s scarves half a year ago, a classic shape but with modern prints and patterns. The show took place at Poltrona Frau with an audience full of silk/Yong Wang/Cata Cheng fans, including an influencer dog, the adorable @mensweardog.
On a side note, I used to photograph the fashion shows many moons ago for the New York Observer. It was a different time with abuse from all directions: the attitudinal PR people, the burley security guards, even fellow photographers. But it changed when I attended shows with the writer, who happened to be the wonderful, hilarious Simon Doonan. He called everyone “Mary”, even the security guards. Approaching each fashion show entrance, it was like the seas parting, the wall of PR people and security guards simply stepped back and let us pass. Doonan was like royalty, he’d been the Creative Director at Barneys for decades, the brains behind the famously zany Christmas windows.
IMMIGRANT (OF COLOR) DEMONIZATION RETURNS IN FULL FORCE
Now for the downer portion of the newsletter, but this is the world we live in and we should be prepared. Get ready for four, maybe more, years of immigrant bashing from the US President, targeting primarily Black, Muslim, Arab and/or anyone of color, if Trump wins. The current demonization of Haitian immigrants by Trump and JD Vance will likely be child’s play compared to the rhetoric and actual policies if Trump gets elected. I was at JFK after Trump signed the “Muslim Ban” executive order, it was atrocious.
While there’s always been anti-immigrant sentiment in the US since its inception and nearly every other country as well, I forgot this level of racist anti-immigrant rhetoric existed from politicians since Trump’s presidency. I can only imagine how it feels for these immigrants to have the potential next president talk with such hostility. Of course I should add that there are plenty of immigrants—Black, Muslim, Arab, Latino—who have voted for Trump in the past and will vote for him again.
This brings me to Agenda47, an outline of what the Trump administration hopes to achieve if he wins. I read about Agenda47 as it relates to immigration in a Forbes article by Alison Durkee, below are highlights from Durkee’s article and a few additional policies from Trump’s website.
Prohibit undocumented immigrants from receiving benefits, it’s not clear if this includes those with DACA status.
End birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants, it’s not clear if this includes those with DACA status.
Reinstitute the “travel ban” from certain countries.
Pause refugee admissions (not asylum seekers, but vetted refugees).
Mandate “extreme vetting of foreign nationals”.
Block federal grants to sanctuary cities.
End “catch-and-release”, which is when officials release people awaiting their immigration hearings.
Close the southern border to asylum seekers.
Suspend the visa lottery.
“Unleash” interior immigration enforcement.
Democrats have not done themselves any favors by denying reality, every person crossing the border into the US illegally is not an asylum seeker. Many are simply regular people trying to find a better life than their country can provide due to corruption or a non-existent economy, similar to many generations of immigrants landing in the US in the past; there should be a legal pathway for them. Imagine a nimble US immigration system that moved and morphed with the the needs of those seeking to immigrate and the needs of US residents, businesses, cities, universities or healthcare.
SERIOUS MOMO FOMO
I was unable to attend the Momo Crawl in Jackson Heights this year, looking at social media, like Momo Crawl’s Instagram is giving me serious momo FOMO. However, I’m rising above and alerting momo enthusiasts (the succulent dumpling with roots in Tibet) who didn’t attend that the esteemed Nepali Bhanchha Ghar is this year’s winner! They are in possession of the official momo yak belt, resembling a heavy weight champion belt but with a golden momo affixed to the front. Congrats Nepali Bhanchha Ghar! A 2018 NYT review by Ligaya Mishan explains why these momo are in such demand.
THE ELIZABETH STREET GARDEN
Every neighborhood needs a green space. The Elizabeth Street Garden is magical place where two people walking their cats can randomly meet. A place to read, have a coffee and pastry from a nearby bakery, meet a friend to split a Parisi sandwich; look at flowers, trees, shrubs and insects. A place that cools the temperature and absorbs rain. A place that provides food for birds. A place to listen to readings or music performances.
But developers want to build on this one green oasis just east of the Bowery in northern Little Italy. On the surface the development appears to be for a noble cause, housing for the elderly, but is actually a boondoggle when you read the proposal’s fine print. To be continued in the next newsletter, hopefully the garden will still exist.
MERCANTILE MAYHEM NEWSLETTER SPONSORSHIP
Will the city become full of Sweetgreens, Chipotles and bank ATM locations? If you care about independent businesses, I am still looking for two (maybe just one, keeping fingers and toes crossed) additional sponsors—individuals, businesses, organizations or foundations—who believe in the survival of independent businesses. Sponsors, like the extraordinary Accompany Capital have a footer that is viewed by all sorts of brilliant people on the mailing list. If you would like to know sponsorship rates and newsletter stats (open rates and such) please email me: ninarobertsnyc@gmail.com and I’ll send you the details. Please forward this newsletter to others.
A million thanks to Mercantile Mayhem’s sponsor Accompany Capital, helping immigrants and refugees with loans and financial services. Read about Accompany Capital here.
OPPORTUNITIES
Food Future Co is a scale-up food accelerator and applications are open for Cohort 13. Food Future Co’s primary interests are: consumer products, local food, plant-based food, sustainable seafood, ag tech, food tech and food waste. Click here for details, deadline is October 28, 2024.
Applications are open for the prestigious Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans that pays for one to two years of graduate study. It’s open to immigrants or children of immigrants. Deadline: October 31, 2024.
Immigrant founders, find your people and network through the Unshackled Ventures community. Unshackled Ventures is VC fund based out of the Bay Area cofounded by Manan Mehta and Nitin Pachisia, apply here.
Thanks for this informative newsletter Nina! You cover such interesting people, businesses and events. ❤️thank you
Wonderful newsletter Nina!