Looking good: African Eye is on the lookout for ethnic wear.Dolled up in kente ken·te n. 1. A brightly patterned, handwoven ceremonial cloth of the Ashanti. 2. A durable machine-woven fabric similar to this fabric, prominently featured in Afrocentric fashion. cloth and flowing African garb, Mozella Perry Ademiluyi roamed Howard University's campus, where her fellow classmates grilled her about places to shop for ethnic fashions. That was 20 years ago. Today, Ademiluyi and her three siblings are drawing hundreds of customers to African Eye in Washington, D.C. The African heritage boutique imports clothes, jewelry and housewares house·wares pl.n. Cooking utensils, dishes, and other small articles used in a household, especially in the kitchen. from Africa and the Middle East, including Kenya, Zimbabwe, Nigeria and Liberia. African Eye is owned by 41-year-old Ademiluyi, president and founder; Katherine Adenlyi-Jones, 40, vice president; Moses L. Perry Jr., 48, marketing director; and Shirley Perry, 3 8, general manager, who oversees the boutique's 10-person staff. The enterprising siblings started the business in 1989, taking $45,000 from family resources. "The boutique is a point of contact for African entrepreneurs and a place for Americans to buy authentic African clothes that are appropriate for Western culture as well," explains Moses Perry. Ademiluyi and sister Adeniyi-Jones spend months traveling throughout Africa looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. buys. African Eye is housed in a three-story townhouse town·house or town house n. 1. A residence in a city. 2. A row house, especially a fashionable one. in the district's Georgetown section. Shoppers roam the boutique's top-level art gallery for sculptures and paintings, and hunt for tablecloths and artifacts artifacts see specimen artifacts. in the home-accessories section. On the street level, shoppers find leisure and cocktail wear for men and women. Add the basement level houses African Eve Cultural and Educational Programs Inc., a nonprofit organization Nonprofit Organization An association that is given tax-free status. Donations to a non-profit organization are often tax deductible as well. Notes: Examples of non-profit organizations are charities, hospitals and schools. that introduces African culture to the neighborhood. Raised in Africa and the Middle East, the siblings know what it takes to do business with the motherland moth·er·land n. 1. One's native land. 2. The land of one's ancestors. 3. A country considered as the origin of something. . Mozella and Moses both have degrees in international law. Shirley has a degree in business administration and Katherine is a director of nursing and a hospital administrator in Lagos. Though last year's sales didn't break the $250,000 mark, 1995 sales are anticipated to soar well beyond that. African Eye is now considering expansion into other U.S. cities. |
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