‘Let the narrative change’: Brampton store owner highlights Black talent at Bramalea City Centre

An Antigua-born Brampton entrepreneur has brought creators from many African countries together under one roof, to create a cultural experience for customers, both from the community and those who want to learn about it.

Fashion designer Juliann Barry says she wanted to build a space where Black businesses could thrive in a supportive environment.

“In my country we have a motto — united we stand, divided we fall,” she told CityNews. “Collaboration, collective unity, can build something stronger than each person trying to do something on their own.”

Her store Reveiller Afriq at Bramalea City Centre houses 14 local, Black-owned Brampton brands, ranging from skincare to clothing and yoga gear to accessories.

“We wanted to be your one-stop-shop for African and Afrocentric products,” she explained. “The store is very diverse. There’s a lot of us from the Caribbean and then there’s a lot of us from Sudan, we have people from Ghana, we have Cameroon, we have Nigeria.”

Visibility is a necessity

Barry started out with her own brand Stylz Afriq, sharing a space in a fashion collective boutique in North York, but long had her sights set on a more mainstream space.

“Our businesses aren’t really visible. That is why I was pushing for maybe two years to try and get into a mall,” she said.

When the pandemic hit in early 2020, it further pushed her to find a space closer to home, so she could be there for her children as well.

“I had to bring the kids to [work with me] and I felt bad. I was feeling like a bad mom because right after school I was out and I was coming back home at 10 p.m. with them,” she said.

With Bramalea City Centre just eight minutes away from home and it being one of the largest shopping centres in Canada, Barry felt it was the perfect combination of convenience and prominence.

At first, she applied for their pop-up program with local businesses and held the ‘African fashion pop-up’ with a number of vendors in October 2021. After its success she felt encouraged to make it permanent and began the process of finding a retail home for her and her collaborators at Bramalea City Centre.

“I kept calling … I was pushing to a point where I was actually going to give up,” she said. “My husband said ‘just keep doing it. Just keep trying to bother them. Call them every day if you have to’ — and I did and luckily it worked out.”

Reveiller Afriq opened its doors on Nov. 14th, 2021 without much fanfare, as the pandemic made it difficult to hold a grand opening. Nevertheless, Barry says being in a massive mall gives her and her vendors the exposure they need to reach a wider audience.

“It’s a big opportunity to showcase what African culture and our fabrics and our passions are — what our creative genes produce — to such a large scale of clientele.”

A space to belong and be seen

Feels like home

Barry says she’s proud to introduce Brampton’s diverse residents to various Black-owned brands, but the store has also become a point of pride for the Black community.

“I notice people, a lot of Africans come and say ‘finally, we have something, finally!’,” she said. “One teacher said his daughter tells all of her friends ‘if you have anywhere to go, if you want to go out … go to Reveiller Afriq.’ She’s so proud of this store. I didn’t even think about it … but then I was like ‘oh even the young people are proud to say okay, we have a space’,”

She added that it has also become a space where people from the Black community feel seen and at home.

“I had a lady come in the other day — she just stood in the front and she just stopped for a good 20 minutes. Then she came in and she said ‘this reminds me when I was a little girl. I’m from Kenya and I used to be wearing these things when I was little,” said Barry. “I’m like, okay, now I believe in what I’m doing.”

Black History Month pop-up

The City of Brampton’s theme for this year’s Black History Month is Black health and wellness.

Among its initiatives in the month of February, the city has sponsored a pop-up within Reveiller Afriq, showcasing eight additional Black businesses from the wellness sector.

“It’s an honour to have the City of Brampton partner with us and also giving these local businesses an opportunity to showcase their product … in an environment where it’s more likely they’ll get sales and they’ll get noticed,” said Barry.

Changing the narrative

Barry says the store and highlighting Black creatives is also her attempt at flipping the script about Black people in the wider community.

She says there are various negative connotations associated with Black people and she wants to open people’s eyes to the creativity and beauty that they have to offer. Ensuring that their talents and products are seen and embraced by a wide audience is a big part of that mission.

“I started with bringing African fashion into Canada. I wanted it to be more mainstream, I wanted it to be more affordable. I wanted people just to see it as clothing to wear. It wasn’t like, ‘oh, I’m a black person, I get to wear this.’ It should be just clothing, beautiful clothing, and I can rock this,” she said.

Eventually, she hopes that it will help change perceptions and misconceptions about her community.

“[I want to give] us visibility in our communities so [as to] let the narrative change from what people may stereotypically think about us,” she said. “Let them see [that we] have class, good culture, [we’re] pleasant, we have good relationships, good things to offer. I believe the African culture and people who are in the diaspora — we have a beautiful culture with so many things to enjoy.”