Albuquerque Independent Alliance Keeps It 'Querque'

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It may have just started gathering momentum, but the Albuquerque Independent Business Alliance (AIBA) was organized enough to hold a recent "Buy Local" shopping day. On Saturday, December 6, the fledgling group asked Albuquerque consumers to buy only at locally owned businesses. And while other alliances have held similarly themed events, the AIBA effort was unique in one way: it was part of what the alliance termed its "soft launch," a way to call attention to the importance of local businesses to the community as well as ultimately spur businesses to join.

"I think we increased awareness in Albuquerque that shopping locally is more than mere patronage of your neighbor," said Steven Morado Stout, owner of Page One Bookstore and Page One Too Used Books, one of four members of AIBA. "We emphasized that all us locals do not just help to paint the landscape that is Albuquerque, we actually return three to five times more revenue to the city than a national corporation does."

AIBA's slogan for the event was "Keepin' It Querque," Stout said, and the day's event certainly brought in consumers. "Sales were up, and there was quite a buzz about the newly forming [AIBA]," he said. The event also raised the eyebrows of local politicians, independent business people, and neighborhood associations. Stout reported he had calls from the Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce, Hispano Chamber of Commerce, the Albuquerque Economic Development Council, the Downtown Revitalization Team, "and to my surprise," he added, "an astonishing number of customers who do not own a small business. People care that Page One bookstores and other businesses have survived the onslaught of national corporations."

Though AIBA may be new, the founding members of the alliance -- Stout, Elissa Breitbard of Betty's Bath & Spa, Peri Pakroon of Pea-Brain Media, and Sara Berger, an anti-trust attorney -- have been meeting for over a year now, said Breitbard. "It started with my reading an article in the Utne Reader about the Boulder Independent Business Alliance," she told BTW in an interview prior to the Shop Local day. "You drive down highway I-25 and I-40 and you see all these chain restaurants…. And we thought, We need to start something like [BIBA] in Albuquerque." The group enlisted the advice and help of the American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA) and the nearby Santa Fe Independent Business Alliance, which Breitbard refers to as "our big brother."

As AIBA continues to organize, it plans to concentrate on co-op marketing and consumer awareness. "We're being protective of our reputation before [AIBA] even starts," Breitbard said. "We're trying to come across as positive instead of negative…. We want to align ourselves with people involved with economic development…. We have an incredible advisory board made up of well-established businesses -- people who give us smart in-put." --David Grogan