‘WeLoveUs.shop Powered by ESSENCE’ Launches Valentine's Day Collection, Placing Black Women Founders at the Center of Love, Legacy, and Intentional Spending

A curated selection of Black-owned brands across beauty, wellness, home, and lifestyle arrives as Valentine's Day and Black History Month converge

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ESSENCE Communications Inc. today announced the launch of WeLoveUs.shop powered by ESSENCE’s Valentine's Day Collection, a curated selection of Black women-owned brands designed to meet consumers at the intersection of two powerful cultural moments: Valentine's Day and Black History Month. The collection transforms February into a season where love becomes action, offering shoppers a culturally grounded way to express care, celebration, and community support through beauty, wellness, fragrance, home, food, and lifestyle products.

The collection arrives as consumer behavior continues to shift toward intentional, values-driven purchasing. Valentine's spending is no longer centered solely on romantic partners; a growing share of shoppers now purchase gifts for friends, children, coworkers, and themselves, with categories like self-care, wellness, beauty, and small luxuries outpacing traditional gifting, especially among younger and single consumers. Against this backdrop, WeLoveUs.shop positions Black-owned brands at the emotional and economic heart of the season.

“The WeLoveUs.shop Valentine’s Day Collection makes intentional shopping easy during a season centered on love and culture,” said Brooke DeVard Ozaydinli, Chief Content Officer of Refinery29. “As an entrepreneur with a brand in this collection, I understand the importance of creating real access and visibility for Black women founders.”

The February collection blends top-performing bestsellers from the platform with a new roster of emerging founders, creating a one-stop destination for culturally meaningful gifting and self-care. Featured brands span fragrance, beauty, wellness, home décor, apparel, accessories, and specialty foods, categories that align directly with how modern consumers express love and self-investment.

Notable brands in the collection include Courtney Kelley Books, Ziva Naseer, HBCU Legacy Fashion, Be Rooted, Tre's Street Kitchen, Naked Beauty Fragrance, Cree & Company, Haiama Beauty, Tribe & Oak, That Good Good Shea, Ire Aje, Tea Please, and Pecandy.

Since launching in December 2025, WeLoveUs.shop has demonstrated strong momentum. The platform now features nearly 1,400 products, with founder interest continuing to grow – applications increased by 78.8% in the second month. Participating founders report increased brand discovery, stronger engagement from culturally aligned consumers, and real demand driven by ESSENCE's editorial and audience ecosystem.

WeLoveUs.shop addresses structural barriers facing Black women entrepreneurs, who operate nearly 2.7 million businesses, representing roughly half of all Black-owned businesses in the United States, yet receive only 1% of venture capital funding. The platform provides bi-weekly payouts, real-time inventory sync through Shopify Collective, centralized customer service, and a commission model that replaces the 90–120-day payment cycles common in traditional retail.

"For more than 55 years, ESSENCE has been the cultural home of Black women," said Kirk McDonald, CEO, Sundial Media & Technology Group. "WeLoveUs.shop extends that legacy into commerce, transforming trust, reach, and storytelling into direct economic pathways for Black women founders. February is the season when people actively decide where to direct love, loyalty, and money, and WeLoveUs.shop places Black-owned brands at the center of those choices."

Throughout February, ESSENCE will elevate participating brands through editorial features, gifting guides, social storytelling, and rotating Valentine's-themed bundles that introduce products to new, highly engaged audiences. Founder stories will be central to the platform's narrative, from couples building businesses together to entrepreneurs designing for community care and wellness.

The Valentine's Day Collection is part of WeLoveUs.shop's year-round calendar of curated drops tied to major cultural moments, including Black History Month, Mother's Day, ESSENCE Festival of Culture®, and Father's Day. Each collection is designed to connect consumers with Black-owned brands during the moments when intentional spending and cultural celebration naturally align.

WeLoveUs.shop powered by ESSENCE is available at weloveus.shop. Brands interested in joining the platform can apply at https://weloveus.shop/pages/join-the-movement.

About Sundial Media & Technology Group
Sundial Media & Technology Group (SMTG) is a human connections company — the signal powered by culture, scaled by technology, and built for community. SMTG connects, elevates, and empowers the most influential consumer segment in the market: HER, the Chief Influence Officer. With over 100 years of community knowledge and insights, SMTG is redefining the media model into a next-generation platform. Powered by proprietary intelligence and AI technology, it activates an ecosystem that scales HER influence and economic power. Its portfolio includes some of the most iconic, purpose-driven brands and experiences shaping culture today—ESSENCE (Girls United, ESSENCE Studios, ESSENCE Festival of Culture®), Refinery29, AFROPUNK, Beautycon™ (including NaturallyCurly), the Global Black Economic Forum, the Academy for Advancing Excellence, and the New Voices Fund. Through storytelling, products, and platforms, SMTG delivers the tools and technology to shape the future of media, commerce, and community—on HER terms.