‘I don’t run.’ How a Black-owned business is thriving in Clovis after hate crime
For a moment immediately after finding her business in Clovis had been racially targeted and vandalized, Chanel Wapner stared at the N words that had been spray painted inside her store.
“I thought about packing up for good,” Wapner said. “My feelings were hurt and then I’m just looking at all the N words, and thinking ‘That’s jacked up.’”
Five months later since the hate crime occurred, Wapner elected to do the opposite of closing shop.
Not only has Just My Essentials remained opened, Wapner established a second business in Clovis.
Perhaps fittingly, Just My Essentials 2 opened during Black History month.
And she did it with the help and support of a diverse group of people, some being residents of Clovis, others of Fresno and the surrounding areas — all with a similar intent to fight back against racism.
“I was really upset after it happened,” Wapner said. “It felt like whoever did it was targeting me. And then it felt like everybody was looking at me. I don’t know who would’ve done this.
“But after I took a step back and collected my thoughts, I said to myself: ‘That’s not my name.’ Whoever did this wants me to close. But that’s not me. I don’t run. That’s not what I do.”
Hesitation as a Black business owner in Clovis
A native New Yorker who moved to Fresno in 1992, Wapner remembers initially telling her husband that she wanted to avoid the Clovis area.
“I know racism exists,” Wapner said. “Sometimes, you can just sense it. I had a couple of incidents in Clovis when I first moved here, and I told my husband, who was my boyfriend at the time, that I’d never come here again.”
Her husband, however, insisted they come back at last once a year to dine at Old Town restaurant Trelio.
And over time, Wapner warmed up to Clovis after experiencing what she described as a friendly, family vibe.
Still, when Wapner opened her business in 2016, she was a little leery of being the only Black-owned business in Clovis.
“I knew I wanted my business here, but you just never know how the public is going to respond,” Wapner said. “I met several owners ... and they kept telling me that they wanted me here and welcomed my business. It was comforting.
“It was like every time I thought one way about Clovis, they showed me the opposite and how inviting they are to me. These days, I almost never leave Clovis.”
Support after hate crime
Wapner felt that support after her store was vandalized back in late September.
Clovis City Councilmember Bob Whalen organized a GoFundMe drive with a $5,000 goal to help Wapner reopen her business. The fundraiser generated more than $30,000.
In addition, several people stopped by the store to hand-deliver a monetary donation or drop off products to help out Wapner.
“The people who’d come by, sometimes they seemed more upset than I was,” Wapner said. “One time, this 70-year-old, white man, he walked in so fierce into my store.
“He says to me ‘Young lady, we do not tolerate this type of behavior in Clovis.’ Then he slammed down $300 on the counter and said I had to take it. I was just so humbled and appreciative of all of those people who wanted to help.”
Wapner said she sent notes to every person who sent her money.
And when Just My Essentials was back up and running almost two months after the hate crime, Wapner reopened her doors to long lines and a plethora of online orders.
The store’s comeback success helped Wapner establish the second bathing products and amora store, one that’s newer and bigger, and just a couple of blocks away from the initial store.
“The community wrapped themselves around me and helped me get reestablished,” Wapner said. “And it continued on with the love and support, it put me in a position where I couldn’t let Clovis down.
“It’s so empowering because it’s making sure that people realize that it’s more important we spend more time trying to love and support one another than it is to be divided by racism and classism.”
This story was originally published February 25, 2021 at 3:00 PM.