By Craig Anderson

This story has been updated

MIDDLETOWN — He’s a church-going father of three, a husband and a former truck driver who decided to take a huge chance for his family.

When Charles Ringgold opened Himalayan Salt Of The Earth Cave in February, from his perspective, he was a first-time business owner who just happened to be Black.

“For me, I never really put myself in the category of operating a Black-owned business because I’ve always represented myself as a guy just doing what I do,” he said recently.

“So, when I put myself in any one category, I feel like I eliminate everything else I am.”

Still, Mr. Ringgold said he sometimes wonders if others see him in a different light.

“Being a Black-owned business is hard because there’s always obstacles out there, and there’s a perspective for a lot of us growing up, when people may look at us and think we only come from the other side of town,” he said.

“But really, we’re just like everyone else — kind of growing up and trying to take care of ourselves, take care of the family. There’s that feeling of people looking at us in a different way, when we’re really just trying to be the same as."

Mr. Ringgold went on to say that, when he was searching for a business space, he was “shut down” by a couple realty agents.

“It could have been related to being Black, but at the same time, it could have been because I was a first-time business owner. So, there’s that lingering doubt about why it happened that way, and would it have been different if I was White?”

Nevertheless, the process evolved and allowed Mr. Ringgold and his co-owner and wife, Krystal Ringgold, to open at 10 W. Main St. Learn more about the facility — where patrons can breathe in salt-infused air to potentially improve their health — at himalayansaltoftheearthcave.com.

The Ringgolds' spa is one of several Black-owned enterprises to open in the Middletown-Smyrna area over the past year:

• Kairos Embrace Behavioral Health at 1000 Smyrna Clayton Blvd., Suite 5, Smyrna, was opened March 23 by Dr. Eugenia Caternor. Visit kairosembrace.com.
• Social at Main at 1 W. Commerce St., Smyrna, was opened Jan. 27 by Brandon Howie and Latoya Boseman-Howie. Visit socialatmain.com.
• Cedar See Vision Center at 5435 Peterson Road, Middletown, was opened in August 2023 by Dr. Withney Korley. Visit cedarseevisioncenter.com.
• Butterfly Effect Studio for Training at 415 E. Main St., Middletown, was opened June 15, 2023, by Walter Sellers. Visit facebook.com/butterflyeffectdelaware or bestindelaware.com.
• Natural Nest Play Cafe at 5350 Summit Bridge Road, Suite 11, Middletown, was opened May 2023 by Ashley and Jacob Rice. Visit naturalnestplaycafe.com.

At his site, Mr. Ringgold said business has been brisk, adding that he seeks to be “a light to other people to see that, wherever we come from — the gutter, the ’hood, whatever you want to call it — we could change our lives by keeping our focus on the right things, and there’s a path for all to get to the same place.”

Less than a mile away from Himalayan Salt Of The Earth is Dr. Korley's spot.

“I didn’t realize there were that many” Black-owned businesses in Middletown, she said. “It wasn’t really a thought when I opened. I was just trying to make sure we're available here in general when it comes to myopia and vision therapy (and) in the right-sized space."

However, she continued, “to see that there’s other Black-owned businesses is encouraging.”

While Dr. Korley said she’s experienced no racial animus from patients, she has “seen people say mean and rude things” on social media — comments that were later removed.

“(That kind of thought) is out there,” said the 36-year-old who resides in Middletown with her husband and three kids, ages 5, 8 and 11.

With just 1.4% of practicing optometrists in the country being Black, Dr. Korley said she’s joined a Black eye care group focused on adding more African Americans to the industry, including ophthalmologists.

“Being able to have more diversity is helpful to the community because there’s ways that you can connect with patients who may see you and just feel more comfortable,” she said.

Meanwhile, Mr. Sellers, the owner of Butterfly Effect Studio, said he grew up in a military family and “traveled a lot as a kid, so I’ve encountered a lot of systemic things in other ways across the spectrum. But here, not so much.”

While the trainer said the process to open his location “did not take on a racial tone per se, you don’t know what you don’t know, and if your friends that look like you don’t have the information, it’s one of those things that’s almost systemic.”

To increase his contacts, Mr. Sellers said he joined the Middletown Area Chamber of Commerce, the Delaware Black Chamber of Commerce and the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce.

He added that he chose Middletown because “there are so many opportunities here, with adding 145 new families a month, and to have a business for folks who look like you is important."

“Sometimes, connectivity between ... cultures in a development like this in Middletown is very important to have.”