BOSTON (CBS) — A local wine store in Boston has won a prestigious honor. The Urban Grape in the South End is the recipient of this year’s “Dream Big: Small Business Of The Year” award from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
The award recognizes The Urban Grape’s commitment to the community and how they’ve broken down barriers, particularly racial barriers as one of the few Black-owned businesses in the wine industry.
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The store was one of many that were broken into the night vandals wreaked havoc throughout the city following peaceful protests over the death of George Floyd at the hands of police.
TJ Douglass, owner of The Urban Grape. (WBZ-TV)
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“George Floyd changed my life, the life of my business, the life of my family,” owner TJ Douglass told WBZ-TV earlier this year.
While the vandalism “definitely hurt,” business is now thriving. Douglass has since started a fund to support Black, indigenous and students of color at Boston University who are interested in wine industry careers.
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“I am using my platform of being in the wine industry of really leveling and creating some equity in leveling the playing field and changing the landscape of what it means to be Black or brown in this industry,” he said.
Source: https://boston.cbslocal.com/2021/10/22/the-urban-grape-wine-store-boston-small-business-award/