Walk into most liquor stores in the US and shoppers will be met with shelves crowded with hundreds of spirits bottles. Yet typically less than 2% of the brands on sale will be Black-owned.
This imbalance drove one Washington DC-based content creator and drinks enthusiast to launch his own e-commerce platform dedicated exclusively to Black-owned spirits in April. Charles Everett’s UrFriendCharles site combines curated shopping with cultural storytelling to help consumers discover and support underrepresented entrepreneurs in the beverage industry.
For Everett, one of the biggest problems Black-owned brands face is a lack of visibility. “You walk into a liquor store and see hundreds of bottles,” he says, “but how do you know which ones are Black-owned? Most of these brands don’t have big marketing budgets or celebrity endorsements.
“In a crowded market, that makes it hard for small names to stand out.”
Levelling the playing field
Moreover, Everett maintains that a lot of the legacy alcohol brands in the US today were built on wealth tied to slavery or post-slavery economics.
“Meanwhile, today’s Black entrepreneurs are creating something new,” he insists. “Most don’t have generational capital or major investors behind them. It’s not a question of quality – the system just wasn’t built with them in mind.”
UrFriendCharles aims to “level the playing field”, according to Everett. “I wanted to spotlight these brands and give people a way to vote with their dollar.
“Because let’s be real, the Kardashians or George Clooney aren’t showing up to pour you a shot of their tequila, but Donta [Henson] from Los Hermanos 1978 Tequila (below)? He’s at tastings every weekend, meeting people face-to-face.
“That’s what I want to amplify: real people, real products and real community impact.”
Lockdown hobby grows into national platform
Everett, who previously worked in the supply chain sector and had no retail experience, discovered his passion for Black-owned spirits during the lockdowns of the Covid-19 years.
Scrolling through TikTok, he came across Brough Brothers, a Black-owned distillery based in Kentucky, which he wanted to try, but couldn’t find locally.
His quest eventually took him to Black-owned spirits store Chat’s Liquors in Washington DC, where the friendly owner introduced him to other spirits, such as Los Hermanos 1978 and Fou-Dré Vodka.
“That visit sparked something,” Everett recalls. “I started collecting bottles. Anytime people came over, they’d ask, “What is this? I’ve never seen it before.”
“That curiosity turned into content,” he continues. “I began posting on TikTok, then expanded to Instagram. What began as a personal hobby and a way to share my excitement about discovering something new, slowly grew into a following.”
Building a business from scratch
UrFriendCharles.com ships to 44 states nationwide and features over 150 products, with ambitions to add a further 100 by the end of the year. However, just getting the platform to this stage hasn’t been easy, according to Everett.
“One of the biggest challenges was going from very little web development experience to launching a fully functional e-commerce platform in just four months,” he says. “I went all in, researching laws, interviewing developers and diving deep into YouTube University.”
Most of the UrFriendCharles site was self-funded and self-built. “From product uploads to customer service systems, it’s been a grind,” Everett admits. “But it’s also incredibly rewarding to know that every inch of the site reflects that effort.”
Meeting brands where they are
UrFriendCharles doesn’t operate like a traditional warehouse-based retailer. The platform integrates e-commerce functionality in a hybrid model.
“Sometimes, I’m working directly with brands that have their own online stores, so we embed buy buttons or use affiliate links,” Everett explains. “Other listings are more like directories with no e-commerce, just links to help people find standout brands that deserve more attention.
“I’ve built the platform to meet brands where they are, whether they’re fully scaled or just getting started.”
In terms of sales trends, American whiskey and bourbon lead the way, which Everett believes is not a surprise.
“Rum’s coming in strong at a close second,” he reveals. “What did catch me off guard is how tequila hasn’t taken off yet the way we expected. That might shift as I highlight it more and expand the line-up.
Everett is excited about the attention the non-alcoholic category is gaining. UrFriendCharles’s selection includes: Mocktail Club Havana Twist, an RTD range of non-alc craft cocktails; Uncle Waithley’s Caribbean Ginger Beer with Hibiscus, a small-batch product with natural ingredients created by mixologist Karl Franz Williams; and Herb & Orchid (below), an Asian pear and agave-flavoured sparkling de-alcoholised canned wine.
“There’s real potential there,” Everett says of the category, “especially for folks who want to be more intentional with what they’re drinking.”
Scaling with intention
Everett says he is determined that the platform will not become like “another liquor store”, which is why the site boasts advanced tools that let users filter founders by six criteria: gender; graduates from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HCBU); members of the ‘Divine 9’, a group of African-American university fraternities and sororities; LGBQT+; former armed forces, and of Caribbean or African descent.
“We’re a platform designed to spotlight underrepresented founders, the real people behind the brands,” Everett explains. “Our product pages focus on their stories, their hustle and their communities. We’re also selective about celebrity-backed brands. Unless the founder is truly involved, we’re not giving the spotlight to figureheads.”
Further down the line, the platform will launch ‘Lil Charles’, an AI-powered chatbot. “Ninety percent of the DMs I got were people asking: ‘Where can I buy this? What should I try if I like [insert mainstream brand]?’” Everett says.
Lil Charles will help bridge that gap. Tell the chatbot you love Diageo’s Crown Royal Canadian whisky, for example, and it might steer you toward Du Nord Apple Liqueur or Uncle Nearest 1884. “It will be like having a knowledgeable friend in your pocket,” Everett says.
Other Lil Charles features in the pipeline include wine suggestions, zero-proof bundles and cocktail recommendations.
Everett says he has no plans to become the next Total Wine & More or the biggest online retailer, but he does have ambitions to grow in a thoughtful and sustainable way.
“One of my bigger goals is launching a B2B marketplace, helping brands move beyond single-bottle sales into case and pallet sales for restaurants, bars, hotels and retailers,” he says. “I also want to make it easier for people to find these brands locally and plug into in-person events like tastings, festivals and conferences.”
While still in its infancy, UrFriendCharles is already growing fast, reveals Everett. “The response has been overwhelmingly positive,” he says. “I’ve had dozens of brands reach out wanting to join the platform, and media outlets I’ve admired for years are now reaching out to me.”
Everett wants to build the platform organically until it becomes investable and aims to build it into a trusted resource. “Whether someone’s shopping online or standing in their local liquor store, phone in hand, looking up which Black-owned bottle to try next – I want this to be the place they turn to,” he says.
“If I can make that happen, I’m doing my job.”
