Main Street/Shop Local

The Canadian Booksellers Association (CBA) has rolled out a new marketing campaign -- Independents Matter -- that invites consumers to "Think Independent. Read Independent.

This week, Stacy Mitchell, author of Big-Box Swindle: The True Cost of Mega-Retailers and the Fight for America's Independent Businesses (Beacon) and senior researcher with the Institute for Local Self Reliance, is in the midst of a five-city West Coast tour. At each of the stops, she's speaking to local officials, indie business alliances, retailers, and residents about the growing Shop Local movement and the benefits to local economies.

More than 70 alternative newspapers are encouraging their readers to spend at least $100 at locally owned businesses in their communities this fall -- a move that could pump more than $2.9 billion into local economies strapped for cash, according to the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies, a trade organization of 130 alternative newspapers, which developed the project with the help of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) and the Read More

November 22, the Saturday prior to the Thanksgiving holiday, is America Unchained! Day -- a nationwide community-based initiative to encourage residents to shop indies for the entire day. Independent retailers, business alliances, and trade associations are all invited to participate in the fifth annual event, sponsored by the American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA).

Although most pundits are predicting a lackluster holiday shopping season, there's at least one local business group that's hoping to turn the current economic situation to its advantage. The Sustainable Business Network of the Greater Lehigh Valley (SBN) in southeast Pennsylvania plans to launch a Main Street, Not Wall Street campaign to highlight to consumers the advantages of spending their dollars at local independent businesses.

On September 23, Local First of Grand Rapids, Michigan, unveiled the results of the new economic study "Local Works: Examining the Impact of Local Business on the West Michigan Economy." The study revealed that a modest change in consumer behavior -- a mere 10 percent shift in market share to independent businesses from chain stores -- would result in 1,600 new jobs, $53 million in

The American Booksellers Association is inviting booksellers participating in established Local First campaigns and those who want to learn more about these community-focused initiatives to an important day of independent business alliance (IBA) education, just prior to the Fourth Annual Winter Institute (Wi4).

Vicky Uminowicz of Titcomb's Bookshop in East Sandwich, Massachusetts, freely admits that she wasn't always a big local first advocate. But a few years back, something changed her mind.

Independent business owner Kimber Lanning knew Phoenix was in need of a local business alliance, so she stepped up and created one. "That's just my personality," she said. "I'm always the person who stands up and says, 'Yes, I'll do that.'" Local First Arizona (LFA), a statewide organization, now has 1,380 members.

When Bridget Rothenberger opened Nomad Bookhouse in historic downtown Jackson, Michigan, in December 2005, the bookstore was the only retail outlet on the street. But things are changing, Rothenberger said. The downtown area is starting to grow, and the once manufacturing town is taking a decidedly artistic turn.

As part of the American Booksellers Association's summer series of IndieBound information sessions, ABA COO Oren Teicher recently participated in a gathering of independent businesses organized by Larchmont, New York's The Voracious Reader.

Based on sales at hundreds of independent bookstores nationwide for the 12-week period ending July 8, 2008.