WDM Magazine

A growing body of evidence suggests that public enthusiasm for all things local and independent is on the rise, providing locally owned businesses with a measure of insulation from the worst effects of the recession.

In January, a national survey conducted by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR), in partnership with several organizations, found that, in an extremely challenging economic climate, independent retailers as a group are outperforming many chains.

The survey of more than 1,800 business owners found that holiday sales at independent stores were up 2.2 percent on average. That contrasts with figures released by the Commerce Department, which show that overall retail sales were down 0.3% in December.

ILSR’s survey also found that independent retailers in communities with active “Buy Local” or “Local First” campaigns reported stronger holiday sales - an increase of 3.0 percent over last year - compared to those in places without such campaigns, which saw a gain of only 1.0 percent.

Nearly 80% of the retailers surveyed said public awareness of the value of choosing locally owned businesses had increased in the last year, while 16% said it had stayed the same.
Anecdotal reports provide further evidence that these grassroots efforts to build support for local businesses are indeed changing people’s shopping habits.

“Never has public awareness been more pronounced than right now,” said Betsy Burton, owner of The King’s English Bookshop in Salt Lake City. Four years ago, Burton joined with other local business owners to launch Local First Utah, a sweeping educational campaign that focuses on the economic and community benefits of locally owned businesses. Today, more than 2,000 local businesses throughout the state are participating in the campaign.

Many are finding that it is making a difference. Customer traffic at The King’s English is up and sales are holding steady despite the downtown. That the “buy local” message has seeped into the hearts and minds of shoppers is evident in the conversations that Burton hears in the store. “They talk about community-how important it is to them, how important we are to them,” she says.

Buy-local campaigns are typically run by local business alliances - nonprofit organizations with anywhere from a few dozen to few thousand members. To join, a business must meet the organization’s definition of “locally owned” and “independent.”

The first of these formed in Boulder, Colorado, in 1998. Still going strong today, the Boulder Independent Business Alliance was the brainchild of David Bolduc, owner of a local bookstore, and Jeff Milchen, a community organizer who now serves as outreach director for the American Independent Business Alliance, a national organization that helps local businesses organize and launch buy-local campaigns.

Today, local business alliances are running buy-local campaigns in more than 130 communities with a total participation of about 30,000 businesses. These groups span the full spectrum of small towns to big cities and dot every region of the country from Tampa to Grand Rapids, Michigan, and San Francisco to Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

The primary focus of most of these groups is educating people about the value of local independent businesses and promoting those businesses through posters, window decals, banners, customer thank-you cards, business directories, coupon books, t-shirts, advertising, and events. Collectively, local businesses, through their storefronts and countertops, have the ability to reach large numbers of people at relatively low cost and to build “local” as a strong shared brand.

Their goal is not so much to change the habits of those who shop almost exclusively at Wal-Mart, but to catch the attention of a much bigger segment of the population: people who shop at both local stores and chains, but have never given much thought to the difference. Once armed with information, many of these customers will begin to shift that ratio, bypassing chains and choosing local businesses more often.

Buy-local campaigns work in part because they are not simply empty marketing slogans. They aim to educate and their messages are grounded in empirical research. They highlight, for example, the many studies that have shown that a $100 spent at locally owned stores generates two to three times as much local economic activity and supports more local jobs than $100 spent at national chains. This is because independent retailers purchase far more goods and services, like accounting and printing, from other local businesses than chains do.
(For more on these studies, visit ILSR’s website at http://www.newrules.org/retail. Click on “Growing Local Businesses” and follow the link for “Key Studies.”)

Other research shows that communities with vibrant local business districts score higher on measures of social and civic health, and that local businesses often have a much smaller environmental footprint than their big-box competitors.

While they may point out the differences between independents and chains, all of these campaigns maintain a strong positive focus. They are much more pro-local than anti-chain. They encourage people to choose locally owned businesses more often, but do not suggest that they can eliminate chain store spending entirely.

Buy-local campaigns almost invariably generate interest from local media. Each interview provides an opportunity for proponents to talk about the value provided by independent businesses and to broaden the reach of the campaign.

After a news story about Portland Buy Local aired on public television the day after Thanksgiving, Stuart Gersen, co-owner of Longfellow Books in downtown Portland, Maine, said his store saw a steady stream of new customers. He remembers one man in particular who rushed over to the store shortly after the broadcast, confessing that he had been about to buy an expensive art book from Amazon. “I realized I have to support the community,” he said. He had never been in Longfellow Books before, but has since become a regular customer.
Launched by Gersen and other local business owners in 2006, Portland Buy Local has grown to more than 300 members. For residents and visitors alike, the campaign is all but impossible to miss with its “10 Reasons to Buy Local” posters and “Keep Portland Independent” window decals distributed liberally throughout the city.

Local business owners say the campaign, which has been voted “best local cause” in an annual newspaper readers poll for three years running, is helping them weather the recession. Although Portland residents have cut back on spending, many seem to be making a more deliberate effort to ensure that what dollars they do spend go to supporting businesses owned by their neighbors.

“I noticed a real shift in consciousness this holiday season. We had a lot of people coming in who said they had decided to do all of their shopping at local businesses this year,” said Kathy Palmer, owner of Fetch, a nine-year-old pet supply store.

That observation was echoed by Nancy Lawrence, owner of Portmanteau, an artisan shop that makes and sells a wide variety of handbags and totes. She saw a “strong determination this year on the part of many customers to do all of their holiday shopping with independents.”

What Lawrence also loves about the campaign is the mutual support that it has fostered among local businesses. Lawrence now reserves space in her store to display a few books from Longfellow Books, which, in turn, displays a few of her bags and directs customers to her store.

This cooperation has not only helped both stores expand their customer base, but serves to remind customers that locally owned businesses have a stake not only in their own well-being, but in the well-being of the whole community.

RESOURCES

The New Rules Project
www.newrules.org/retail
The Institute for Local Self-Reliance offers several useful resources through its New Rules Project, including a tip sheet on “How to Start a Buy Local Campaign.” Go to the link above and click on “Growing Local Businesses” in the column on the right.

Hometown Advantage Bulletin
www.newrules.org/hta-signup
ILSR’s free monthly e-newsletter with the latest research and news on community strategies to strengthen and grow independent businesses.

Big-Box Swindle: The True Cost of Mega-Retailers and the Fight for America’s Independent Businesses
http://www.bigboxswindle.com
Named one of the top ten business books of 2007 by Booklist, Stacy Mitchell’s book, Big-Box Swindle, not only “takes mega-retailers to task in convincing fashion” but “provides inspiring lessons from places that are turning the tide.” Available at local bookstores or order online at the above link.

American Independent Business Alliance
www.amiba.net
AMIBA helps Independent Business Alliances and Buy Local campaigns start and grow in cities and towns across the country. AMIBA offers on-site workshops, a how-to guidebook, templates, and advice for organizers.

Business Alliance for Local Living Economies
www.livingeconomies.org
BALLE works to catalyze, strengthen, and connect local business networks dedicated to building strong Local Living Economies. BALLE offers a 100-page kit for creating Local First campaigns and hosts a large national conference every year.

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Stacy Mitchell is a senior researcher with the New Rules Project, a program of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, and author of Big-Box Swindle.

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