For Father’s Day weekend, the Chicago Defender highlights distinguished Black men from our city who are outstanding dads.

How’s this for an early lesson on entrepreneurship that one Chicago dad passed on to his daughter? 

Jamee Denman was around seven years old when her father, James, started a business and named it after her. It was called Jamee’s Italian Beef & Pizza. 

“I remember being in school, and my dad used to bring the flyers to school to advertise, and it was named after me,” said the now 26-year-old Jamee in the back office of a shoe store she co-owns. “The kids used to ask questions like, ‘So this is your restaurant?’ and I’m just like, ‘Yeah.’” 

“But I don’t think I fully understood how important it was or how big of a deal it was,” she said. 

For Jamee, however, that early lesson would eventually take root and become a compelling example of how a father can model positive behaviors for his child to follow.

“I was always trying to do something to represent my daughter and to bring some generational wealth,” James said.

Putting her name on Jamee’s Italian Beef & Pizza was to “inspire her to want to be an entrepreneur one day.”

It worked. 

Fulfilling the Legacy

James knew early on that he wanted to model business ownership for Jamee just like his parents and grandparents did for him.  

He credits his success to being raised in a two-parent household where both parents worked for the United States Postal Service. But they were also business owners, as were his grandparents.

“My grandfather and my grandma owned restaurants throughout the Chicago area,” said James. “Then my dad had restaurants and grocery stores throughout the Chicago area.”

“So it was just like generation to generation, and then here I come just fulfilling the legacy.”

As is Jamee. 

The current iteration of that legacy is Jamee and James owning four businesses jointly — two Harold’s Chicken locations and two Sneakerville 88 stores. They opened the second Sneakerville 88 location in Hyde Park in May.

In case you didn’t know, Harold’s Chicken is a Chicago staple like deep dish pizza, Italian beef sandwiches and Garrett’s Popcorn. It’s a known quantity. Plus, there are over 40 Harold’s locations in seven states with different franchisees. 

But the Denmans’ Sneakerville 88, which sells rare and collectible sneakers, is their unique venture. It’s a business they want to benefit not only their family but other minority business owners. The goal is to franchise out or do license agreements with those who want to get into the sneaker business.

“I know within our community there are a lot of people interested in opening a shoe store, so if we can give them the blueprint and give them a head start on what to do and how to do it, we can have more entrepreneurs in our community,” said Jamee.

“So with me being able to crack the code, I want to be able to share it with other people,” James added. 

Another Vital Lesson Learned

As for James’s first business, the one he named after his daughter, he closed that a while ago. But its closure served as another vital lesson Jamee learned — entrepreneurship’s good and challenging aspects. 

“I just know that things might not work on the first go-round,” Jamee said. “And that’s why I’m not afraid to start businesses, and end them, and then start something else and try again because it’s just not set in stone that everything will work. 

“But something will work eventually, whatever you’re trying to do if you can stay consistent with it.” 

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Chicago Defender Staff

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