Nature’s Syrup moves from kitchen table to downtown Minneapolis brick and mortar

Nature's Syrup Beauty is open for business at 733 Marquette Ave. in the downtown Minneapolis skyway. Photo: Harry Colbert, Jr.

Upwards of 100 people crammed into the shop at 733 Marquette Ave. in the downtown Minneapolis skyway for the grand opening of Nature’s Syrup Beauty. 

Dignitaries that included Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, and the presidents and CEOs of the Minneapolis Downtown Council and the Minnesota Black Chamber of Commerce stood shoulder to shoulder with eager customers waiting to purchase their skin and haircare needs from the stocked shelves of the brick and mortar shop that had previously been solely an online and pop-up operation. For De’Vonna Pittman, founder of Nature’s Syrup, the opening was the realization of a dream nine years in the making. 

“I had no idea that when I started making body butter nine years ago at my kitchen table that it would become this,” said Pittman, who left her fulltime job to pursue success as an entrepreneur. “This is another moment of success for Nature’s Syrup, this is another success for community.” 

Surrounded by family, De'Vonna Pittman cuts the ribbon of her downtown Minneapolis shop, Nature's Syrup Beauty. Photo: Harry Colbert, Jr.

Pittman’s Nature’s Syrup line has grown from body butters to include lotions, soaps, deodorants, scrubs and more. But it is her haircare line that first sparked the fire inside of Pittman. 

“Nature’s Syrup was a dream when my daughter came home crying and depressed because someone told her her hair was ugly,” said Pittman. “That stuck with me for so many years. Our hair is not ugly, it is beautiful. We are only what we have been told. We started Nature’s Syrup because we want everyone to know you are beautiful just the way you are.” 

While Nature’s Syrup was born out of a statement of Black beauty and self love, the products that line the shelves are universal. And they are unisex, to which the Minneapolis mayor attested. 

“This is not just skin, hair and beauty products for women. People often ask me where I get my haircare products from. The mayor of Minneapolis gets his haircare product from Nature’s Syrup,” Frey proclaimed. 

De'Vonna Pittman (right) highlighting her products for Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. Photo: Harry Colbert, Jr.

Much of Pittman’s support has come from family, including her husband, Robert Pittman, and her brother, who she said offered up more than 30 years of supply-chain logistics knowledge. But Nature’s Syrup is also uplifted by several area funders, who stepped in when commercial banks wouldn’t. 

“If it wasn’t for NDC (Neighborhood Development Center), none of these products you see would be on these shelves right here,” said De’Vonna Pittman. “NDC gave me my very first loan. When I had an 800-something credit score I could not get a loan from a bank because I’m a small business … but NDC said ‘We will take a chance on you.” 

Pittman also acknowledged the help of others including the Minnesota Black Chamber of Commerce, Cameleon Shoppes and the Groundbreak Coalition, who she credited with stepping in financially at a time when she considered giving up. 

Sheletta Brundidge said Nature’s Syrup is the continuation of wealthbuilding through haircare, which created the nation’s first Black woman millionaire. 

“Madam C.J. Walker is looking down from heaven and smiling,” said Brundidge, who said Nature’s Syrup is ready to compete with the large chain beauty brands. “Let me tell you something, we’ve got our own Sephora. We don’t have to go to Amazon (any) more. We can come here to downtown Minneapolis and get everything we need.”