Business Ethics & Company Standards

Home Ec aims to be more than just a retail store, but also an inviting and comfortable place for all to shop, visit, find community, and feel welcomed. Here are some of the ways we pledge to keep equity for our community at the forefront of what we do:

  • Inspired by The Fifteen Percent Pledge, which is asking major retailers like Target and Whole Foods to commit 15% of their shelf space to Black-owned businesses, we have committed at least 15% of our cookbook inventory to Black authored books. We are also working toward doing the same for our entire store.
  • Our website menu has a category to allow customers to filter for BIPOC-Owned businesses and authors. You can find our current collection here.  
  • We are a white woman owned business with 1 part-time employee. When the time comes to grow our team further we will ensure that our hiring practices will be anti-racist. We also pledge to only hire folks at wages we are proud of and will not ever be a minimum-wage employer.
  • Our annual Small Business Saturday fundraisers and donations will benefit anti-racist organizations fighting inequity in our community.
  • Accessibility matters to us. Our website has accessibility features to help shoppers with disabilities use our website more easily. In our store, we ensure a 3' wide pathway to get to each part of our store. While some things are high up on the shelves and potentially out of reach for some folks, we are happy to assist anyone needing help to access those products in the shop. As for financial accessibility, we are always open to talking with you about our prices and and the products we choose to carry. Please email us at carynn@home-ec.co if you have questions about this.
  • All sexual orientations and gender identities and expressions are respected, valued, and welcome in our shop and at our events.
  • Our owner (Carynn Pinckney) is Safe Zone trained through The Safe Zone Project and Home Ec is an LGBTQ+ Safe Zone. 

We are privileged to have the opportunity to continue learning and making our business better. We welcome all feedback and would love to hear your ideas on ways we can put equity, anti-racism and thoughtfulness at the forefront of our business. Please email carynn@home-ec.co with any questions, responses, or ideas.