The founders of Black Paper Party are in a state of gratitude for surviving 2025.
Founders Madia Willis, J’Aaron (Jae) Merchant, and Jasmine Hudson launched Black Paper Party in 2020 out of Arkansas as a holiday brand that designs, licenses, and manufactures inclusive products for Black families.
By 2024, the brand hit $1.4 million in revenue, according to Inc, and had been shelved in retailers such as Walmart, Target, Macy’s, Dollar General, and Family Dollar.
Regarding support from customers, Merchant told AFROTECH™, “They’ve stuck with us, tried and true, made us a part of their holiday traditions. Even with everything that’s going on, they’re still looking to us for their little pockets of joy. So we couldn’t be more grateful.”
2025 Challenges
This September marked five years for Black Paper Party. As the business expanded, the founder trio had to consider factors such as rising tariffs. Fortunately, they had infrastructure in place, which lowered the tariff burden, said Willis, who comes from a retail background in sourcing, design, illustration, product development, and buying.
“Our channels were tested by the tariffs. We have a diversified sourcing strategy, which allows us to produce our wrap both in the United States as well as overseas outside of China … Additionally, we’re a licensed store, which is unique in the market … And so that means our manufacturers actually kind of had to bear the brunt of that tariff challenge,” Willis told AFROTECH™.
“And then, accordingly, we chose the assortment for blackpaperparty.com channel according to what we had access to at the best price. So I do think that we were kind of able to be nimble given the tariff challenges,” she added.
The founders’ work is also taking place in a political climate that frowns upon diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. However, Black Paper Party intends to stick to and double down on its mission to offer culturally relevant products to the Black community.
Target
The Brand was approached by Target’s brand team in 2021, one year after Target developed a Racial Equity Action and Change (REACH) committee to ramp up DEI efforts, Mars United Commerce reports.
Target did not approach Black Paper Party to participate in a DEI program. Still, Black Paper Party did benefit from programs for minority-owned businesses through outreach from Target’s supplier diversity team after landing on store shelves.
“Target’s brand team approached us right back in 2021, and we grew that program year after year for four years there as a part of their diversity initiatives. They had a program where you get marketing leads as a Black-owned brand, or you didn’t get chargebacks the first year. So we were beneficiaries. We did benefit from those initiatives as a Black-owned brand, but we were approached by their brand team at first,” Willis acknowledged.
Target became the brand’s second-largest retail account.
In January 2025, Target announced it was ending its DEI commitments, including a program that helped Black-owned brands secure shelf space in its stores, per AFROTECH™.
In the spring of 2025, Black Paper Party learned that the retailer would not reorder its products, so it would no longer be shelved in stores. By that time, the brand’s gift bags and wrapping paper had been shelved in nearly 500 Target stores and sold online. The founders were not given clarity on the non-renewal.
Black Paper Party has maintained the rest of its retail partnerships and currently is shelved in 9,000 stores. Its contract with Dollar General was renewed for 2026, landing it in 5,000 locations, according to information shared with AFROTECH™.
“I think my biggest reflection on the year is it was a big shaking of the tree to see which retailers actually walk the talk and which partners and manufacturers and initiatives from any other kind of organizations really are aligned to our values as a business … This year has been kind of pivotal in seeing kind of who’s really with this and who’s not,” Hudson expressed.
Direct To Consumer Push
Looking ahead, the founders’ strategy includes ramping up its direct-to-consumer (DTC) channel as a result of a changing retail industry. Retail is a significant part of Black Paper Party’s portfolio, but the founders are hoping to be closer to consumers and adapt to changing consumer shopping behavior.
“They want to shop small … We are a small business, but we’re not like super small anymore. But giving that customer a sense of having a direct relationship with our brand through DTC is something that the customer is craving,” said Hudson.
Black Paper Party is in the midst of wrapping up its 2025 holiday collection and will soon be rolling out its Black History Month Collection as early as January 2026. It will feature bonnets, a satin pillowcase, decor, apparel, and hydration products, including water bottles, tumblers, and more.
Black Paper Party’s offerings will soon expand beyond the holiday format as they lean towards releasing evergreen products.
“We’re strategically moving to become an everyday brand, to where we’re not just solely putting all of our chips into the Christmas and Black History Month basket … We’re going to be able to do that because of those strategic partnerships developed,” Hudson commented.
Raising Capital In The New Year
The founders also plan to raise capital in 2026. They have been primarily bootstrapped, although the Black Ambition Prize has a stake through a $25,000 safe convertible note. In total, Black Paper Party has an estimated $400,000 from pitch competitions, grants, and a working capital loan from Lendistry. The brand was also a winner of Macy’s vendor accelerator program, the Workshop at Macy’s.
In 2026, Black Paper Party will be opening to angel investors, family, and friends. The raise will support the direct-to-consumer channel, website inventory, marketing efforts, and onboarding more people into leadership roles so that the founders can focus more on their areas of expertise.
The founders aim to secure between $500,000 to $1 million through a combination of equity and debt, Inc. reports.
