In 2022, April Showers finally got her big retail break as her brand, Afro Unicorn, entered Target and Walmart.Afro Unicorn is a licensed-character brand designed for women of color that sells hair-care products, books, apparel and more. For Showers, as a Black entrepreneur aiming to normalize Black beauty, getting into mainstream retail was a critical milestone.
“It wasn’t to help normalize it for us,” Showers said. “It was there to normalize it for everyone else, so that when a little white girl walks into the room and sees a Black girl, she doesn’t look at her any differently.”
Nearly four years later, however, Showers’ products are no longer found on Target’s shelves after the company pulled back from some diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. Showers told Modern Retail that, as a result of Target’s decision, she decided to stop advertising Afro Unicorn’s presence at the retailer, adding that the brand’s sales at Target fell below the company’s standards and that its products were cleared from its shelves by the end of 2025.
Some Afro Unicorn plushes and a book are still available on Target’s website, but not in stores — speaking to how long it can take for a brand’s inventory to be cleared from warehouses. The brand is still available at Walmart and CVS Pharmacy.
