America Unchained Creates Mainstream Support for Independent Businesses

When the American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA) announced that November 20 would be America Unchained day, Jennifer Rockne, AMIBA's director, noted that the event, which asked people to shop only at locally owned retailers in their communities, was organized primarily to be a "media" event, with the ultimate goal of helping community members comprehend the economic benefit that local businesses provide. Judging by the amount of press the event garnered in participating communities, as well as nationwide, it is clear that the first America Unchained Day was a success.

"Even here at AMIBA, we've had a great response from media from all over the country," Rockne told BTW. "We sent out over 1,000 press releases … and we've heard from local news outlets … and other more national media, such as the CBS Radio News Network." Rockne noted that the centerpieces of this year's America Unchained event were the findings of Civic Economics' recently released Andersonville Study and its 2002 "Economic Impact Analysis -- A Case Study: Local Merchants vs. Chain Retailers," both of which clearly illustrate that local retailers return more economic value to the community than do chain retailers.

The idea for America Unchained evolved out of Austin Unchained, an event held by the Austin Independent Business Alliance (AIBA) last November. This year, AIBA and Austin participated in the nationwide event, and Steve Bercu, owner of BookPeople and AIBA's president, said the promotion went well. "Everybody seemed happy with it -- other local businesses in town and around the country," he reported.

Overall, the event attracted a great deal of coverage from Austin media, both print and television. "There were articles in the business journal, [reports] on a couple of TV stations, and a bunch of public service announcements on the radio," Bercu said. "[AIBA received] a lot of publicity out of it. Frankly, the critical part is to keep the discussion going." He added that he even received a call regarding the event from the St. Petersburg Times in Florida.

Bercu noted that on Unchained Day AIBA members each held contests in their store. BookPeople held a drawing for a $50 gift card. "We wanted to make it simple," he said. Over 150 people entered into the drawing, and for the day, "sales were good, up eight percent over the year before. The day got some excitement going and got people talking about [the issue of chains versus local businesses]."

The Tampa Independent Business Alliance (TIBA) kicked off America Unchained early, on Wednesday, November 17, with a fundraising event at the University of Tampa that featured Stacy Mitchell, author of The Hometown Advantage: How to Defend Your Main Street Against Chain Stores and Why It Matters (Institute for Local Self-Reliance). Bringing in Mitchell helped draw attention to the day, said Carla Jimenez, co-owner of Inkwood Books, which is a member of TIBA.

"It was great having Stacy here in town -- it brought [the event] a lot of media exposure," said Jimenez, who explained that prior to the event, on the afternoon of November 17, a local Fox television affiliate broadcast a panel featuring Mitchell, Jimenez, and two other members of TIBA.

The fundraising event later that evening was "well attended by the media and TIBA members," reported Jimenez, adding that the alliance's America Unchained event garnered "great media coverage -- we did really well with the media." As for the day of the 20th itself, Jimenez said that Inkwood "had a good day," and overall, "we were very happy with [America Unchained]. It was very energizing for TIBA members."

The Boulder Independent Business Alliance (BIBA) -- which was the first independent business alliance in the country -- also held a successful America Unchained event, but for Boulder Bookstore's David Bolduc, more than anything, the event signified how the issue of supporting local businesses has gone from being controversial to becoming mainstream.

"When we started [BIBA] seven or eight years ago, it was very edgy -- people detected a negative message out of [the formation of an independent business alliance]," he said. Today, the idea of promoting the economic value that local businesses bring to the community is "so acceptable" that it makes it much easier for a local business such as Boulder Bookstore bring its agenda to city politicians, he noted. "And when it's more acceptable, it is more possible for [other local businesses] to sign on."

As for the event itself, Bolduc praised the media attention America Unchained received, and said it was just another way to keep the discussion going. --David Grogan