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Many firms are minority-owned or target minority populations Jermaine Smith holds a cold pack to his neck in preparation for a laser treatment to reduce the razor bumps he gets from shaving. After a few minutes, Rachel Roff leads him to the treatment room, where both place protective goggles over their eyes and Smith braces for what he calls a "somewhat painful" procedure. Roff, a licensed medical aesthetician and certified laser technician, begins the procedure, running the laser along his neck. Urban Skin Solutions Laser MedSpa is on Mallard Creek Church Road. It's one of a growing number of businesses and organizations cropping up in University City that are owned by minorities or target the area's diverse population. There's money to be made. The area contributed $8.2 billion to the Charlotte economy in 2005, according to a study by the Charlotte Chamber University City and UNC Charlotte's Urban Institute. A different study by the University City Community Building Partners recently reported that 90 percent of University City residents do their shopping in the area and 60 percent engage in recreational activities in the area. The diversity in the area is expected to continue to rise. African Americans will represent 33.3 percent of the University City population by 2010 and Hispanics will represent 6.4 percent. The Chamber/UNCC study reported that about 29 percent of University City's 131,443 residents are African American, 61 percent are white, 5 percent are Hispanic and 4 percent are Asian. |
Pat Martinez, chairman of the Charlotte Chamber University City, said those statistics are drawing businesses and organizations interested in targeting diverse populations. The Hispanic Scholarship Fund, for example, will open a Charlotte office in University City soon. "The main thing they were looking at was diversity," said Martinez, who'll head the office. "That (location) gives me access to Charlotte and Cabarrus." About 7 percent of Cabarrus County's population is Hispanic, according to the study. Roff, originally from California, said she decided to open Urban Skin Solutions in University City so she could tap the large African American, Hispanic and Indian populations in or moving to the area. African Americans make up about 75 percent of her clientele, she said. Roff said she considered Ballantyne and other parts of town, but decided University City had the most untapped market. Smith said he began going to Urban Skin Solutions because it specializes in treating darker skin and because it's close to Universal Cuts, a barbershop where he works. Universal Cuts also recently opened targeting the African American market, Smith said. Both businesses are in the new shopping center near the entrance to the Arbor Hills subdivision, which is between Interstate 85 and Mallard Creek Road.
