July 2022
Case
HBS Case Collection

Sixty Years of Sylvia’s

By: Christina R. Wing, Carlton Burrell Jr., Chika-Dike Nwokike and Abby Patrick

Format:Print
| Language:English
| Pages:25

Abstract

Sylvia’s Restaurant, approaching its sixtieth anniversary this August, is a testament to the values instilled by the matriarch herself, Sylvia Woods. Despite living through an era of racial oppression and poverty, Sylvia accessed financing and established her financial independence within the restaurant community in Harlem, NY. It was there she cultivated a community inside the walls that would eventually stand as Sylvia’s. Ten years since her passing – amid business expansions, succession planning and a global pandemic – the legacy of Sylvia Woods continues to live on. The question now is: what should the next 60 years of Sylvia’s look like?

Keywords

Community; Legacy; Small Business; Values and Beliefs; Success; Expansion; Growth and Development Strategy

Citation

Wing, Christina R., Carlton Burrell Jr., Chika-Dike Nwokike, and Abby Patrick. "Sixty Years of Sylvia’s." Harvard Business School Case 623-018, July 2022.