The community network encourages targeted shopping on Black Friday and throughout the year.
Black Friday won't end this November.
The Nod, a digital community organization focused on empowering Black Canadian businesses, kicked off its 10-city Canadian tour on November 28, starting at Edmonton's innovation hub Edmonton Unlimited, and aims to spread awareness about The Nod, its namesake app, as well as the long-term goal of recycling millions of dollars into Black Canadian businesses and supporting Black entrepreneurs.
The launch event in Edmonton featured 32 businesses, the majority of which are Black-owned, offering a range of products and services sorted into themed boxes that users could purchase through The Nod app.
“The ultimate goal is for us as a community to contribute to the economy.”
Chinamerem Ogbonna,
Nod Foundation
“It was always Black Friday, and we thought: How can we change that?” said The Nod co-founder and CEO of The Nod Foundation Chinamerem Ogbonna. “How do we make sure that within the community we are thinking about where our money is going and being very intentional so that we are spending intentionally and driving economic growth within the community?”
Black Friday has evolved over the years into a marketing tactic to encourage shopping in the US after Thanksgiving and before Christmas. Over time, businesses in Canada have discovered this bug and are often making huge sales. But with U.S. e-commerce giants controlling much of the online market and offering deep discounts, Canadian consumers may have a hard time finding domestic products and sales.
“I think we couldn’t have picked a better time to do this in terms of the current situation and the economy, and that’s what we’re trying to do as well,” Ogbonna said. “The ultimate goal is that we as a community contribute to the economy, contribute to the GDP, ensuring that we play our part and ensuring that these are formal businesses… that are on the same playing field as any other organizations or large corporations that are doing the same thing.”
Nod co-founder and CEO Ikenna Onuora said hosting a tour like the Real Black Friday is vital to making the organization's work feel tangible and impactful.
“All of this is purchased online through the app, but this activation brings it closer to the community so they can feel, experience, interact. Businesses using the app can also interact with potential buyers. That connection is what this event is all about,” Onuora said.
The Nod launched in June 2024. The company's name, according to its LinkedIn page, comes from “the nod of another black person in a public place…that nod that says, 'I see you.' The company's mission is to make “Nod more than just a head tilt.”
The Nod app, the primary way to participate in the ecosystem the organization is building through online storefronts, networking, sharing knowledge and resources, and more, launched almost exactly a year later. According to the website, the app has just under 1,000 users and generated $126,000 in sales. Its founders expect that number to increase during the nationwide tour.
Onuora said The Nod aims to raise $100 million in spending money from 500 Black-owned Canadian businesses over four years.
Of that $100 million, one percent will go to The Nod Foundation, a registered non-profit organization that helps formalize Black businesses and take them from an idea to a legal, registered enterprise.
Edmonton economic development specialist Claudio Carvajal, speaking at the Real Black Friday presentation, emphasized that the work of The Nod will also help the development of the city.
“Whether it’s reducing systemic barriers, improving the customer experience or supporting initiatives like the Migrant Action Plan. [a municipal program in Edmonton that supports newcomers]Our goal is to ensure that everyone, regardless of background, can fully participate in Edmonton's economy,” Carvajal said.
“This is where our work is so closely aligned with The Nod… you're doing something that powerfully complements the city's efforts to help business owners get formal, digital and connected,” he said.
The next stops on the Real Black Friday tour will be Calgary in January 2026, Vancouver in February and Quebec in March.
BetaKit Prairies Reports partly funded by YEGAFa non-profit organization dedicated to sharing business stories in Alberta.
Images courtesy of Tim Rauf for BetaKit.
