Photo courtesy of Common Earth Company.
During the winter solstice, the path of the sun is the farthest south, prompting the Earth’s poles to reach maximum tilt away from the sun. This phenomenon, resulting in the shortest day and longest night of the year, occurs in the Northern Hemisphere on Dec. 21 or 22.
The Common Earth Company, a Black-owned health and wellness lifestyle company that provides provisions, holistic home goods and wellness services centered around the community, celebrated this past solstice by hosting a community wellness retreat attended by dozens of Jersey City community members of the area known as “ChillTown.”
Owner Lisa Rose likes to describe The Common Earth Company as a “wellness lifestyle of alternatives.”
The holistic service company, located at 99 Monticello Avenue, was spawned out of the Independent Beauty Supply Company (IBS), a black owned community staple and full-service professional distributor of salon products that celebrated its 50th Anniversary in summer of 2024.
Located next door to Common Earth, IBS has been primarily serving Jersey City by acting as a liaison to other salons and manufacturers educating salon owners on the best products and business strategies.
Like many business owners during the 2020 pandemic, Lisa and her husband, Tyrone, scrambled to figure out a new approach to keep his family business running. They started to ship packages directly to the salon’s clients. Then, over time as COVID restrictions loosened, they moved to curb side pick-up and in-store shopping.
The family wanted to expand its reach in the community, thus creating the Common Earth Company in 2022 with Lisa running the store.
So was it hard to differentiate herself from her husband’s already established family business?
“No,” Lisa told Slice of Culture, “Because we are completely different. I’ve had people come in here who don’t even know [Tyrone is] my husband.”
And that is, in Lisa’s words, “intentional.”
If you go on the Common Earth website you will see self help books for sale plus home goods, personal care products and more.
Inside the store, there’s even more of a plethora of options, including “Chilltown” Apparel, a direct reference to Jersey City’s old-school nickname.
“We are very, very big in Jersey City. Because this is our hometown,” Lisa added.
That desire to serve the community is a primary driving force in Lisa’s vision for the store. The underdeveloped neighborhood has been an afterthought compared to the constant development and investment in Downtown Jersey City or even the Journal Square area.
No supermarkets, no yoga studios and no places without alcohol for adults to come together—Lisa saw a vital need in her city and decided to do something about it.
So she and the family began brainstorming her vision for the company.
“This store’s whole concept started with me and Tyrone talking about what is needed in the community. And we were like, ‘Okay. Wellness. We don’t have that, how about some different provisions… And how about community?’”
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In addition to the products sold, Common Earth also implemented Yoga classes on Saturdays and Sundays.
Neighborhood resident Yolonda Leon appreciates the efforts of Rose and company.
“This neighborhood deserves more and this place is proving that it can be more,” Leon said. “People from this neighborhood can prosper.”
I was able to witness the community investment in the winter solstice event in December. Dozens of Black women from the community spent the day doing yoga and journaling their thoughts through prompts as to what lessons learned in the past year, what goals they are bringing into the new year and also defining the significance and meaning of the solstice.
“We talked a lot about what we are keeping in our lives and what we are getting rid of,” Lisa recounted, proudly as she laughed with familiar customers while being interviewed. “It was just a really good time for fellowship.”
Being that it is the shortest day and longest night of the year, it can be argued that the winter solstice is the darkest time of the year; not much sunshine and, by definition, it’s the darkest time.
But after the solstice, the days start getting longer and nights start getting shorter as spring approaches. And for Lisa, that scientific occurrence has resonance not just for how she runs her business, but life in general.
“Be very patient, just don’t give up,” she said. “My motto this year is to dream while you’re still awake.”
One Response
Since Hoboken Station is being worked on, how about adding elevators. Even escalators would be helpful. I speak as a senior citizen with heart issues and bone problems.