Coffee shop with a creative, hip-hop twist set to open Downtown

CINCINNATI -- Means Cameron believes that most good things happen in coffee shops. "People sit down, have a cup a coffee and usually the talks are really genuine," Cameron said. The 28-year-old also believes coffee shop conversations can foster creative communities, which is why he and business partner Marcus Ervin are opening Black Coffee this November. The coffee shop will be located next to Black Owned, the store the pair opened in 2014 at 822 Elm St., Downtown to sell the clothing brand they created. "Our vision was to start a brand and promote black excellence and ownership through fashion," Cameron said of the Black Owned fashion line he and Ervin originally launched in 2011. "What I wanted to do was create a brand that allowed me to express myself as a creative but also connect to people because I think that ownership idea in our community, there is a disconnect of what we can actually do." The West End native said Black Coffee will fill another need he sees in Cincinnati's African American community when it opens. "We've based our culture around hip-hop, street culture, fashion, art and music," Cameron said of he and Ervin's business philosophy. "And as an African American, I felt like in Cincinnati there was no coffee shops that spoke to me as an individual. Even if the coffee was good the environment wasn't necessarily fitting. So, what Black Coffee is the fix to that. So that people like myself who are artists but also entrepreneurs, creatives can come to a space and feel comfortable."