On Sunday, March 20 from noon to 4 p.m., Zionsville-based shop Robert Goodman Jewelers is hosting a pop-up event featuring eight Indianapolis Black jewelry designers and business owners. Together with his wife and business partner, Rose-Marie, owner Bob Goodman is welcoming black designers into the store at no cost to the designers.

Black Jewelry Designers & Makers Pop Up is part of the Goodman’s effort to create a more equitable, racially diverse and inclusive world, starting in their shop on Zionsville’s brick Main Street.

“Over the generations, black designers have not been afforded the luxuries that the rest of us in the jewelry industry who are generational independents have had,” Goodman previously said. “Rose-Marie and I should not be the only generational independent jewelers doing this.”

The Goodman’s have built a business model around a commitment to fighting discrimination and caring about the community and the people in it. This commitment can be seen in many of the Goodman’s actions – murals on the store’s exterior (including a Black History Matters mural), a BLM sign in the front window, an Open for Service sticker, an LGBTQ flag flying near the front door and a recent F—k Misogyny art exhibition.

“We’ve been involved in equity for a number of years. It started with my father telling me not to judge anyone when they come in the store,” said Goodman, whose store is part of a family business that began in 1904. “In 2019, it became more apparent that we had to position ourselves as vocal and active allies to the BIPOC [Black, Indigenous and People of Color] community – not just in Indianapolis and Zionsville, but also in the jewelry industry.”

The shop previously hosted a black jewelry designers pop-up last November. Goodman reached out to local activist Dominic Dorsey to connect with participants and furnished the designers with case tops for their products. Almost all designers will be returning this month for the second Black Jewelry Designers & Makers Pop Up.

Robert Goodman Jewelers will close transactions for the day, providing the focus and the space solely to the designers.

“Supporting community is part of the human model, not a business model,” Goodman said. “This event is not for promoting business, it’s doing what is right and promoting other designers. Everyone is welcome here.”