Think Globally, Shop Locally: Santa Fe Independent Businesses Band Together

In Santa Fe, New Mexico, independents are putting into practice the adage "There's power in numbers." Local independent retailers, community organizations, and businesses have joined together to form the Santa Fe Independent Business Community Alliance (SFIBCA) -- a nonprofit coalition that aims to improve the local economy by driving consumers to local, independent retailers. Now, less than five months after the alliance formed, SFIBCA already has more than 370 members, including six independent bookstores.

"This has just mushroomed,'" said Edward Borrins, who, along with his wife, Eva, is co-owner of Garcia Street Books, a member of SFIBCA. "If you keep money in Santa Fe, there is a tremendous benefit to residents, not just to merchants."

SFIBCA is "dedicated to using the marketplace to respond to the needs" of the local community rather than the interests of multinational corporations, the alliance states on its Web site, www.santafealliance.com. Currently, about 60 percent of the members are independent businesses supplying a broad range of goods and services, from pharmacies to banks to beauty salons and physicians. Additionally, members include community organizations and individual residents.

The alliance plans to spread the message that buying from the local independent retailer helps to create a sustainable community. Members will display window decals and bumper stickers to identify independently owned businesses and have started running print advertisements in newspapers and magazines. Moreover, SFIBCA is publishing 15,000 copies of a 60-page directory of local businesses, as reported by the Home Town Advantage Bulletin.

SFIBCA members will be encouraged to support their fellow members and to share ideas and strategies with one another, the Bulletin reported. Businesses may also choose to give discounts to other alliance members.

Borrins, who purchased the 2,000-square-foot Garcia Street Books in May 2000, referred to SFIBCA as a "war chest." He explained that there is a Borders Books & Music about three minutes by car from his store. "The previous owner threw his hands up when Borders came in 1998," he told BTW. "It really impacted the store." Though Garcia Street Books has doubled its volume in less than three years, and is thriving, "if a Barnes & Noble came in we'd want to fight that vigorously," he said. "I think it's politically incorrect to buy a book from Borders that can be obtained here."

SFIBCA is just one of a number of independent business alliances looking to spread the message that buying from a local business puts more money back into the local economy. Recently, an Austin, Texas-based study commissioned by Liveable City, a local, nonprofit community organization, and the Austin Independent Business Alliance, bore this fact out and helped keep a Borders from moving into a development across the street from two independent retailers. (To read more about this topic, click here.)

Additionally, the Boulder Independent Business Alliance (BIBA) has been a vocal proponent of the positive impact of supporting local, independent businesses, retailers, and organizations. (For a profile of BIBA, click here.). --David Grogan