Meet Lee and Betty Davis
For the Love of Africa
It all started with an interest in African Goods. But in 1972, Lee and Betty Davis (affectionately known as Miss Betty and Mr. Lee) took a month-long trip to Ghana and Nigeria, fell in love with the colors, the art, the people, the country. While there, they made the first of what would turn out to be many purchases.
They started going to trade shows, buying Black greeting cards, black art, black collectibles, and would store the items at home wherever they could find space–in the living room, on the couch, under tables–and people would come over and buy things. Miss Betty: “…and eventually Lee said ‘you need to get this stuff out of the house!'”
The First Culture Collection
What followed was a series of contacts that eventually led to the first Culture Collection retail store, opening at the Florin Mall Shopping Center in November 1992. It was the first African American retail store in Florin Mall at the time. Miss Betty became the face of Culture Collection, and the store attracted people from the Bay Area, Modesto, and all around California. It was a huge success. Offering quality products, huge inventory of both African and African-American merchandise, and excellent customer service, this family business quickly built up a very loyal following and a stellar reputation within the Community. But most importantly, they were a source of Community pride.
Miss Betty: “People would come to the store as if on a field trip–bringing children and pre-school kids, and they would look at all the different things–the figurines, the art, the books…and one little girl said ‘the books are black, the little figurines are black, the pictures are black, and even the people that work here are black…’ (lol!)”
They were there for 13 years, and only left because the mall was closing down. Miss Betty: “We were one of the last ones to leave, just before the bulldozers came lol!”
Mr. Lee: “To the very last days, people were coming up (to the store) trying to buy something. So we had a very loyal following…and we felt really good about the positive response we got.” Following the closure of Florin Mall, Mr. Lee and Miss Betty stored their huge inventory in storage and took to vending for a while as they went looking for suitable space. “looking for a place to go, but didn’t find anything (right) off hand…”
Florin Square
The store had temporary locations at the Riverside Plaza (located at Riverside and Florin Road) and the Kuumba Collective Gallery, located on Del Paso Blvd. But ultimately they decided to go back to vending and moved to 6965 Luther Drive, Suite 3, Sacramento, CA 95823. They were there for about 2 years and then moved to Florin Square located at 2251 Florin Road, Sacramento, CA 95822. Florin Square is the home of many African American businesses and services, as well as the Sacramento African Marketplace, and the Sojourner Truth Multicultural Art Museum, two cultural landmarks important to the community and the city.
Culture Collection at Florin Square
