Well, with my motivation still high and my energy and excitement acting as the wind beneath my sail, I set out to research the market further to see if anyone else was planning a distributed Black business directory. Lo and behold I came across a similar publication called Mahogany that was published by Ms. Mattie B. Marshall Circa early 1989. It contained 74 pages of business listings and display ads and was available at seven locations throughout Charlotte, NC. While this publication was somewhat similar to what I had in mind, it did not come close to scratching the surface of what I considered a viable distribution area consisting of many more locations as well as via the postal service. I therefore continued to search the Charlotte market for others planning a widely distributed Black business directory.
Word spread in the local Black business community of my intentions and that is when I received a call from a Mr. Theautry -- a.k.a. TX -- Green. Like me, he was a transplant here; me from Miami, FL, and himself from Chicago, IL. We quickly set up a meeting to pick each other’s brain and to feel one another out as to who was farther along in the process of starting this new business venture. We met some time in the middle of September 1989 for dinner at the now defunct Damon's Ribs located in the at the time new shopping plaza at the corner of The Plaza and Eastway Drive. Ironically, this restaurant was one of my projects as a Distribution Engineer for Duke Power Company.
The meeting went well and to my surprise TX pulled out several publications of what they called Black Pages from major U.S. cities like Chicago, IL, Atlanta, GA, and St. Louis, MO, and Dallas, TX. He gave me the impression that he was well on his way to publishing here in Charlotte especially since he had worked for the publisher of the Black Pages for St. Louis, Chicago, and Dallas. His name was Mr. Arnette French; I will get to him later. Well, I thought to myself, it had to be a great idea because someone else was going to make it happen. Unfortunately, TX did not give me any indication that he was willing to allow me to assist him even though I shared with him the positive feedback that I received from my earlier survey. So I went away partially exited but also disappointed that I was not going to be able to make my dream come true.
I went back to my office then located just down the street near the railroad tracks off Eastway Drive. The building is now used as a wrecker service that displays a truck filled with Christmas lights during the holiday season. Back then it was known as the Newell station for Duke Power Company. I discussed my meeting with TX with my then engineering mentor Mr. Hosie Caldwell, Jr. After listening very carefully to my recap of the meeting, he brought something to my attention that I surely missed. He asked me if TX had shown me any proof of his claims of being well on the road to publishing, e.g. signed contracts. Hosie also stated that that may have been part of his strategy to intimidate me into quitting giving him a free reign on the market. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm I thought he may be right; so I once again became excited about my project and continued to work on bringing it to market.
Word spread in the local Black business community of my intentions and that is when I received a call from a Mr. Theautry -- a.k.a. TX -- Green. Like me, he was a transplant here; me from Miami, FL, and himself from Chicago, IL. We quickly set up a meeting to pick each other’s brain and to feel one another out as to who was farther along in the process of starting this new business venture. We met some time in the middle of September 1989 for dinner at the now defunct Damon's Ribs located in the at the time new shopping plaza at the corner of The Plaza and Eastway Drive. Ironically, this restaurant was one of my projects as a Distribution Engineer for Duke Power Company.
The meeting went well and to my surprise TX pulled out several publications of what they called Black Pages from major U.S. cities like Chicago, IL, Atlanta, GA, and St. Louis, MO, and Dallas, TX. He gave me the impression that he was well on his way to publishing here in Charlotte especially since he had worked for the publisher of the Black Pages for St. Louis, Chicago, and Dallas. His name was Mr. Arnette French; I will get to him later. Well, I thought to myself, it had to be a great idea because someone else was going to make it happen. Unfortunately, TX did not give me any indication that he was willing to allow me to assist him even though I shared with him the positive feedback that I received from my earlier survey. So I went away partially exited but also disappointed that I was not going to be able to make my dream come true.
I went back to my office then located just down the street near the railroad tracks off Eastway Drive. The building is now used as a wrecker service that displays a truck filled with Christmas lights during the holiday season. Back then it was known as the Newell station for Duke Power Company. I discussed my meeting with TX with my then engineering mentor Mr. Hosie Caldwell, Jr. After listening very carefully to my recap of the meeting, he brought something to my attention that I surely missed. He asked me if TX had shown me any proof of his claims of being well on the road to publishing, e.g. signed contracts. Hosie also stated that that may have been part of his strategy to intimidate me into quitting giving him a free reign on the market. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm I thought he may be right; so I once again became excited about my project and continued to work on bringing it to market.
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