![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/IMG_1964-1024x683.jpeg\")
The Aux co-developers, from left: Sgt. Jacqui White, Tiffini Holmes, Lori Laser and Sgt. Tosha Wilson. Credit: Heidi Randhava<\/p>\nSince opening in May, The AUX, a Black-owned wellness hub dedicated to racial equity has faced challenges of visibility and awareness from the community.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tucked inside an alley entrance at 2223 Washington St., the 16,500 square-feet building now houses about a dozen Black-owned businesses and health services such as a laundromat cafe, a dance and workout studio, a Black-owned bookstore and therapy services.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Over the past several months, The Aux hub and all the tenants have seen a \u201csteady but slow growth,\u201d according to Tiffini Holmes, co-founder and owner of the Aux Wellness Collective, a space in the building dedicated to mental and physical health services.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Despite this growth in some of the businesses, like the Laundry Caf\u00e9 and the space\u2019s newest addition, Zora\u2019s Place, a bookstore dedicated to Black writers, other services have struggled to be seen, Holmes said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Holmes said tenants located in the Wellness Collective space, like the dance classes and massage services, have had small attendance numbers so far.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s definitely our plan to market more in different ways,\u201d Holmes said. \u201cI think so far we\u2019ve been relying on social media as much as we can but now we have a newsletter.\u201d<\/p>\n
Additionally, founders of The AUX want to work with other groups to create new marketing opportunities such as holding events, Holmes said.<\/p>\n
The Aux co-developers, from left: Sgt. Jacqui White, Tiffini Holmes, Lori Laser and Sgt. Tosha Wilson. Credit: Heidi Randhava<\/p>\n
Jocelyn Davis, a dance and meditation instructor in the space, says her class attendance ranges from 3 to 7 students per class, although specialized classes for events or private parties generally have higher attendance.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn terms of consistency of students, the challenge mostly is the location and people not knowing where we are or who we are,\u201d Davis said. \u201cIt\u2019s always been a work in progress, even though we do have Instagram posts and Facebook posts for marketing, it\u2019s still just not enough.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Since joining as a tenant in May, Davis has reduced the number of classes she teaches from five to two or three. However, as a previous business owner of the downtown Evanston studio, Akemi Fitness Method, she is aware that the first few years of a business are always the hardest to promote.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt really wasn\u2019t until my third year that I started seeing a consistent flow of folks coming in,\u201d Davis said of her former business. \u201cWe haven\u2019t even touched our first year yet, and that\u2019s what I keep explaining to Tiffini. It does take time and a lot of boots on the ground work and networking.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
For the future of her classes, Davis said she is interested in continuing to promote private group sessions, as she saw more success over the past year when her classes were booked by large parties.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/IMG_4147-1-1024x679.jpeg\")
A workout class held at The Aux Wellness Collective over the summer. Credit: My Ly<\/p>\n
Even for the Laundry Caf\u00e9, Jacqui White, a co-owner of the business, said the cafe and drop off laundry service are much less utilized than the self-service laundry space located near the entrance of the building.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe look at it as three separate businesses,\u201d White said. \u201cThe self-serve is doing awesome and the drop off and fold has picked up a bit and so has the cafe. I think they\u2019re all doing good, it\u2019s just the self-service is doing a lot better.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
White said in the new year she wants to focus on more marketing projects for those less used businesses, and to promote the health services located in the back of the building.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSo [when] people may come in for us, they\u2019ll hear about the other businesses in the building,\u201d White said. \u201cThat was our idea with the design, to have this cross pollination where they come in for one thing and find out about another.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n