Cloudy Donut Co. is set to kick off Black History Month with a bang!
The Black-owned vegan donut shop will open its second New York City, NY, location in Nolita, Manhattan on Feb. 1 — making the upcoming location the first Black-owned food and beverage business in the neighborhood — according to VegOut magazine.
In addition to bringing its vegan treats to Nolita, Cloudy Donut Co.’s Derrick Faulcon and Zewiditu Jewel teamed up with Creatives of Color to encourage creativity and community in the space, featuring installations by florists, visual artists, musicians, and ceramists, the outlet notes.
“This will be a space where things happen and we plan to make it an unforgettable experience for our patrons and collaborators,” Jewel announced, according to the outlet.
Faulcon added, “We could’ve opened months ago, but I wanted to open on a historical day which is not only monumental for Black People, but all people.”
Cloudy Donut Co.’s latest expansion comes after the company opened the first Black-owned business in New York City’s Brooklyn Heights in 2022. As previously shared by AFROTECH, Faulcon made history with the shop after being formerly incarcerated.
“I spent 11 years total of my life in prison,” Faulcon shared in a TikTok video at the time. “Two years in solitary confinement. I came home and started my own business.”
“My goal was, how can I create a luxury product in an affluent white space and now bridge the gap between that crowd and our crowd? It’s a generational wealth play,” he continued. “It’s like now, how can we put ourselves in a position where instead of keep complaining to these white folks let’s just start owning some sh-t. Let’s start going to their communities. Getting money from them. Giving them quality products. Bridging the gap. Creating those relationships. Building and architecting a life for ourselves and then giving back to the people behind it.”
Since its founding, Cloudy Donut Co. has two locations in Baltimore, MD and now, two in New York City.
