Main Street/Shop Local

Towne Book Center Marketing Director Kit Little has worked with Red Bubble to turn ABA’s Bookseller DIY templates into an array of “brilliant” marketing materials.

Bookstores’ promotional plans for World Book Night’s “great giveaway” include a mini parade of lights, TV crews filming the odyssey of the givers, and entertainment provided by local teenage musicians.

The Business Alliance for Local Living Economies has announced the availability of scholarships to the 2012 BALLE Business Conference, to be held on May 15 - 18, in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

The American Independent Business Alliance has just extended the Early Bird registration deadline for its biennial conference, Go Local, Grow Local: Building Community Prosperity From Within, to be held March 29 - April 1, in Louisville, Kentucky.

Next Thursday, March 1, is the last day for indie booksellers to sign up for the July celebration of “Find Waldo Local,” a community-wide Shop Local promotion, co-sponsored by Candlewick Press and ABA.

Tuesday, January 17, is the deadline for responses to an important post-holiday survey, which seeks to gauge how independent businesses are faring in today’s economy and to assess whether people are more aware and supportive of locally owned, independent businesses.

Candlewick Press and ABA are partnering to bring “Find Waldo Local” to Main Street USA this July. Indie booksellers nationwide are invited to host a month-long scavenger hunt for Waldo throughout local businesses. The community-wide event was developed to help spread the Shop Local message.

ABA is urging members to participate in an important post-holiday survey of independent businesses. Last year’s survey provided unique and important data about the viability of independent businesses and the effectiveness of “Buy Local First” initiatives and garnered attention from more than 200 media outlets.

December brought double-digit sales improvements to some indie booksellers, increased online sales to others, and the reversal of a negative trend to another.

Here’s a roundup of some of the reaction from booksellers, authors, and the media to last weekend’s promotion for the Amazon price comparison app.

The results of a recent survey of 28 locally owned businesses in Greater Portland, Maine, reveals that every $100 spent at a local business contributes an additional $58 to the local economy, while the same amount spent at a representative national chain store yields just $33 in local economic impact.

Big or small, three years old or 100-plus, many independent bookstores reported robust sales for Black Friday weekend, ranging from five to 250 percent over the same period last year.

Booksellers who are looking to build on the momentum of Small Business Saturday have a ready-made option in the ideas and materials created for the “Shift Your Shopping” campaign.

This Saturday, November 26, is Small Business Saturday, but there’s still time to get involved. Stores can easily add their Facebook page link to the SBS website and download an assortment of promotional materials.

This holiday season, several independent business and local first alliances are joining forces for the first time in a new campaign that urges consumers to “Shift Your Shopping.”