When the first study of black business was conducted in 1898, it found that the average capital investment in the average black business was $4,600.120 By 1944, that capital investment had actually decreased to $3,260. The vast majority of these businesses (90 percent) were divided equally between small retail stores and small service establishments.121 Many ghetto businesses were small mom-and-pop shops that were barely profitable—still pebbles on the seashore.122
